Brown Fox
by The Old Yankee
Summary: The Fourth Hokage has a Problem, but he has a solution, after looking at his former students eyes he has an epiphany, Half the Chakra, Halve the Load.
1. Chapter 1

Brown Fox

Brown Fox

Chapter 1

The Forest Calls

**I do not own Naruto, or any of the Characters that reside in the Naruto Universe.**

There is a point in every beings life where they must make a choice; sometimes the choice is small and insignificant, like whether or not to eat the last piece of cake: or big and life changing, like which child to seal a nine tailed demon fox in. Yes, the loveable Namikaze Minato had quite a big dilemma on his hands; you see, his original plan was to seal the evil incarnate into his one and only son, but with about as much warning as a hurricane he had two beautiful children in his arms, with no decent way to determine which one of them should carry the burden of the wannabe plush toy. Between the children, there was considerable difference between them. One of them had unruly spiked hair, blonde, as the sun is bright, along with his signature blue eyes, while the other baby, had calm brown hair with light hazel eyes. The baby boy with brown hair on his right arm seemed to be complete opposite to the crying baby on his left arm.

"Minato-Sensei what are you waiting for? The Demon is just a few miles away, is the sealing technique Ready?" said a Jounin named Hatake Kakashi, this finely tuned killing machine had not only his genius mind, but the power of the Sharingan in his left eye. The now impatient silver haired prodigy was wearing a navy blue mask covering the lower half of his face, along with standard issue ANBU armor below his neckline, the only way to pick him out of a crowd right now was his single red eye. Looking at his former students eye it dawned upon him. 'Half and Half, I will just divide the charka down the middle, along with the soul, and put them separately into each of my children'.

"Yes, its time to put this damnable monster were it belongs, in a small child's stomach" he said with a bit of sarcasm, what better time for humor when one is facing there ultimate foe?

XxXxXx-15 minutes Later-XxXxXx

The job was done, the demon, finished, the charka, sealed, the soul, divided. The hero of the leaf was taking his last few breaths exhausted from his sealing technique. With his order to retreat for the ANBU squad sent with him, he was alone, left to spend the last few seconds of his life with his children. Well, that's what he thought at least, but when he saw a green haired woman walk out of the surrounding forest, whose only source of protection against the cold night was some bark covering only what seemed appropriate to the mysterious woman, before he could ask who this woman was, she quickly knelt down and picked up the still quiet brunette baby, and carried him away, before he could even get in a word of protest, the woman, along with his remaining life were gone.

As soon as the blonde hero was sent to his eternal torture, one of his two reaming students, this one showing an innate ability in healing and being of the female sex, was running to the now lifeless corpse of her late sensei. Before Rin could even cry over her dead teacher, who was just sent to the afterlife to join his third student Obito. She was interrupted by a loud cry, no, a loud shriek, of a blonde baby who was now looking up at her with cerulean eyes. Not unlike the ones that her sensei had. Quickly dismissing the thought of this being her sensei's son, he was unmarried and would never have an illegitimate relationship. Ignoring the boy's mysterious parenthood, Rin picked him up to examine him closer, the most obvious feature being his blonde hair, sharing an uncanny resemblance to her late sensei, but as Rin's eyes trailed down the small boys body, she noticed two things, one of the traits being his 3 whisker marks on each side of his cheeks, the other thing the medic-nin noticed was the intricate seal that was placed on the boys stomach, while she was studying the strange boy, he burst out in yet another loud cry, she could feel the sound waves hit her face feeling like a great wind.

"Uzumaki Naruto" said the chuckling chunnin, she had no idea why she decided to name the Demon Container, as far as she knew, he had parents, but it just felt natural to give the boy his name. With that being said, she left to report the finding of the Naruto to the soon to be re-instated Sabutori Sauske.

--------With the Mystery Woman--------

She looked down at the baby in her arms, she was instructed by her superiors to take the child and raise him in till he could fend for his own in the forest. To teach him everything one would need to live in the l forest. She had no idea why she was asked to raise this child; she was a proud matron of this forest, not some lowly baby sitter and she was by no means feminine, which lead her to question the judgment of the elders. But even with that said every time she looked down at the child, she could not help but think he was adorable, and quiet, quiet was good. She re-examined to baby to be sure she scooped up the right one.

"Brown Hair" she looked at the boy's scalp, "Check", "Hazel eyes", looking straight into the child's eyes making the baby squeamish, "Check". Pausing for a moment to remember the third detail "Whiskers on the cheeks, and an intricate seal on the child's stomach" after looking at the two mention areas, she sighed. 'Damn, I got the right one, that means I have to look after him now.' she bitterly thought as she stormed off with the child in hand. Wondering what evil tasks she would have to do for the next 10 years of the Child's life. But then the lady of the forest remembered something, a ritual of name giving the humans did to their children, since this one was indeed a human he still needed a name. Giving about as much thought to the name as one would give to the time of day, the lady of the forest came up with a name. "Kasshoku no Kitsune"(1), with that she smiled content with her more then fitting name of the child. The lady of the forest walked off into the dense forest, eager to report to her superiors the successes of her mission.

---------Hokage Tower--------

Rin walked into the Hokage's office, still cradling the baby back and forth to calm him down. She herself wishes that someone could do that to her now, the pain of losing her sensei along with her friend Obito was starting to wear on her. She wanted to stop being a Ninja, stop losing all of these precious people. She had only two people left, all of her relatives died in the Third Shinobi War, and with today, the majority of the rookie class was dead excluding Sabutori Asuma and her one time crush Kakashi. The Kyuubi was the fault for that. But the Hokage quickly brought her out of her sullen depression.

"Rin, may I ask why you have a child in your arms?" asked the wrinkled old man, Sabutori Sasuke, though to a commoner's eye he might appear to old and brittle to be a ninja of any caliber. But even an academy student could tell you that the older a Ninja is, the more deadly he becomes. The newly reinstated Third Hokage was no exception to this rule, he was feared throughout the Shinobi Nations and was praised as the "Professor" and is rumored to know a 1000 jutsu.

"Yes Hokage-Sama, I found this boy in the arms of the recently deceased Fourth Hokage, and he has developed whisker marks along and has the seal on his stomach depicting that this boy has the evil Fox sealed inside of him" answered the blonde, who had changed out of her medic nin gear into a green robe.

"Where is the other one?" asked Kakashi who was standing in the corner of the room, covered in blood and gore since he was too busy to bother himself to change into clean clothes.

"Other what?" questioned the medic nin, who was now wondering if she had forgotten anything.

"There was another baby, he had Brown hair and Hazel eyes, the child was with Minato-Sensei when we went off to kill the damnable fox." said the silver haired Jounin, with a hint of anger in his voice.

"There was no other baby on the site, and we both know that it would of not been able to crawl away, are you sure you saw another baby?" asked Rin, not hiding her anger in the least.

Kakashi, not being in a too happy mood himself replied, "I am positive that there was another child in Sensei's arms, I think you just screwed up again, and were too stunned to see him," after that was said he glared at the angered medic-nin, putting all the malice he could bolster, he was in no mood for Rin's shortcomings.

Before a fight could break out, the wizened Hokage interrupted "Enough! Both of you, get some rest, we have all lost plenty of fine shinobi today, I will not have you arguing about that past, or present mistakes" he said the last bit while looking at Rin, who all but folded under the scrutinizing glare. "Hand over the baby to me, I will send out a team of ANBU to look for the other child, I order you two to go home and sleep, you have both fought hard for Konoha and deserve rest." with that the two kindred spirits went to there homes and fell asleep for the night. But the wrinkled sage behind the desk had no luxury he had to find a baby, before someone else did.

"ANBU" yelled the tired Hokage as three masked ninja appeared before him. "I want you to find the boy that Kakashi described, he should be near the body of the late Hokage, may his soul be safe wherever the child may be".

"Hai" said the three masked Ninja, who jumped off to find the missing child.

"Lets hope Rin's mishap hasn't caused us to lose the child," mumbled the Third Hokage, "not only would it put the boys life in Jeopardy, but I have a hunch that the blonde child isn't the only demon container that was created tonight." Before the Hokage could even shut his eyes, the ANBU were back, but there was something missing from the skilled Ninja's hands. "Report" demanded the Hokage to the Masked Ninjas.

"We had no luck finding the child, dead or alive, we searched the surrounding area and found no traces of the baby, we presume him to be kidnapped." said the first of the three masked ninjas. "But we have no idea why anyone would want the Child, as far as we know, the baby had no bloodline or powerful family around".

The Hokage was baffled, did someone think the same thing as he, no, that was impossible, there was at max four ANBU including Kakashi with the former Hokage that would have been able to see the two children. And even Kakashi did not know about the possibility of the burden of the fox to be split in half. He sighed, if his speculations where correct then he just gave half of the Demon Lords strength to the closest being, if he was wrong, and may he be wrong, then he had done nothing but misplacing an innocent baby . But problem is, the Professor is never wrong.

**A/N**

**(1). I am not fluent in Japanese nor do I know any of the grammatical rules of the language, this is supposed to mean "Brown Fox" if it does not mean this, I would appreciate it if someone would PM me and correct the Japanese meaning, and I do know his first name will be brown. **

**-The Old Yankee**


	2. Chapter 2

Brown Fox

Brown Fox

Chapter 2

Growing up Green

**A/N I would like to thank creitros for correcting my improper Japanese.**

Five years have passed since the Kyuubi no Kitsune fell to the heroic might of the Fourth Hokage. The village had sustained minimal damage due to the sacrifice of the Shinobi and the former Hokage on that faithful day. But the damage the fox did to the ninja populace was immense, many brave warriors fell on that day, and the village had still not forgotten the unreal terror they felt on that fateful day. But there was still a blatant reminder of that cold October night, one small, harmless, innocent child, named Uzumaki Naruto.

"Kaa-san" said the five-year-old child to his adoptive mother, the boy was growing normally, with no hideous mutations or random mood swings from the fox's presence. He is currently wearing a simple black t-shirt with a pair of khaki shorts, both a bit too big for him, bought on the premise that he would grow into them.

"What is it young one?" replied Rin, who was smiling at the young boy, she had decided to adopt the bundle of joy after she learned of his deceased parents, and the less-then-happy attitude the orphanage was giving him, though the treatment was by no means abusive, just neglectful. Rin's decision was not made on a whim, she thought about the responsibility looking after the boy would entail, the changing, the feeding, the constant need of attention, but she just couldn't let him live the rest of his life by the skin of his teeth. So, after, she quit her job as a full time Shinobi. Rin decided to apply for a job as a Nurse at the local hospital. Then she decided to adopt the little ball of energy, and she has never looked back since.

"When are you going to train me to be a Ninja?" Asked the ever-hyperactive blonde five year old, ever since he saw the Third Hokage do a simple substitution technique to avoid his grandson's projectile vomit, he was constantly peppering her with this question. But it was a good thing he was interested in becoming a ninja, after all, the council in its most honorable way would force the child to become one.

"When you are old enough Naruto, right now your charka coils are too underdeveloped to practice anything but kunai throwing and taijutsu." replied the retired chunnin to the blonde child, though her reasoning was correct, Rin also didn't want the boy to be too involved in his ninja skills to not make friends his own age, which was hard enough with the ever vigilante parents keeping there children away from the blonde child.

"Then why don't you teach me those things Kaa-san?" questioned Naruto; Rin had no choice but to answer truthfully to the blonde child.

"Because little one, you need to make friends before you make enemies," Replied the nurse content that the answer would sate the boys lust for ninja knowledge, for now.

"But where can I make friends Kaa-san?" replied Naruto, seemingly unaware of the startled expression on his mothers face. Rin had no idea how to reply to this question, she had been trying to find the answer to that question for a while now, much to her sadness, she had found none, but then it suddenly came to her. The children were not the problem, the parents are, and where are there no parents.

"The orphanage," replied Rin, there were plenty of kids there, all starving for friendship and attention, and the children were usually taken to the park every Wednesday to play. Though today was only Saturday, she would have to wait in till next week to put her evil plan into action. "Hey Naruto, how would you like to go to the park this Wednesday and have a picnic?" asked the now smiling nurse, why did she not think of this before? It was brilliant!

"Will there be Ramen?" asked the now smiling little boy, she had no idea why but the boy had an unnatural addiction to the noodle soup, whenever he could the boy would eat the stuff, and with the speed of a trained ninja too. This did not please the medic nin too much, considering the lack of nutrients in the dish.

"As much ramen as you could possibly eat." Answered Rin, she had to have him in a happy mood so he would be easier to talk with by the orphaned children. If this worked out as planned, he could have a decent childhood and not have to be completely emotionless as a Shinobi. And the later date gave her enough time to request the day off on Wednesday to spend with her child. This reminded her she would have to pay back Kakashi for all those times he looked after her child when she couldn't get Iruka or one of her nurse friends to do it.

----------Somewhere in the Konoha Forest----------

Five years, five long years, that is how long she has been looking after the child. The baby had grown up fine, even though he was raised in the forest, he could talk well enough so other humans could understand him, which was one of the many requirements the elders had for the boy. The lady of the forest had to learn the human's savage language, so she could teach it to the child. For whatever the elders wanted with the boy, they would not tell her, but they went out of there way to make sure she wouldn't talk ill of his own species around him. But even with these limitations, she could not help but like the child, he was quiet, receptive, respective, and most of all, intelligent, the boy, even at his young age of five, did almost nothing without thinking it through, the boy had his moments of weakness, but irregardless it was astonishing. Even her own kind was headstrong at his age, but the raising of the child was not all peace and quiet, the boy had the weirdest sense of humor, picking up sarcasm from Kami knows where, it seemed whenever he would speak, he would have some sarcastic remark, not aimed at anyone to be hurtful, but just enough so you couldn't help but notice. But, getting back to the limitations that the elders set forth for the boy, he needed friends, not just of her species, which he had plenty of, but of his own kind, being a lady of the forest, she had no idea how to go about with doing this, her only interaction with his kind was to steal milk from the traders carts, the boy needed the calcium and Vitamin D to grow up healthy, and those few times she went into town, disguised as a normal human, to steal clothes for the weed that is her constantly growing charge. But she was brought out of thinking by the voice of said child.

"Kaa-san" said Kasshoku no Kitsune, he had grown quite a bit since his birth, which was to be expected since that's what children do, he was wearing a brown heavy cloak, needed to protect him from the cool nights in the Konoha forest, and underneath the cloak was a brown t-shirt and a pair of navy blue pants, bought 2 sizes too large, too minimize the amount of stealing she would have to do for the boy, since there species used species (1). The boy also wore a half mask to cover up his bottom half of his face along with his whisker marks, the lady of the forest new of her charges "Tenant" and told him flat out the very second he was capable of understanding, he took it surprisingly well for a three year old. It also saved her an explanation of why he would always have to wear the mask, "Kaa-san" the boy repeated again, hoping this time to get his mothers attention.

"What is it sapling?" replied the now listening mother,

"You've been standing there looking at me for about 5 minutes, are you thinking about something Kaa-san?" asked the now curious boy, who had been looking at his mother wondering what she could of possibly been doing staring at him.

"Yes, Yes I have been sapling, im trying to find a way for you to make some more friends" replied the now slightly embarrassed mother; she had yet to tell him that he was of a different species then her, though she had no idea why, but whenever she thought about revealing the truth it her heart pained a little bit, so she just never told him. But that is not the problem right now; the dilemma that was stuck on her plate now was trying to get this kid friends of his own kind, not of hers, she was running through a list of possible candidates for potential comrades, this time she made sure to not stare at the child, clan members? No, too protective, civilians? No, too weak, and frivolous, Ninja Families? He might be tempted to join up with the humans, so that was another no. But as she continued to run down the list of possible bonds, she camp across one that made perfect sense. "Orphans!" she said out loud, startling the boy next to her,

"Random word is random" said the still startled boy to the left of her with just a hint of sarcasm, angering his mother a bit, but it was well deserved on her part. Recovering from the rightful rebuttal, she went on to ask.

"Sapling, would like to make new friends?" asked the mother while looking at the boy, hoping he would be as eager as usual when it came to new people, he was always excited about meeting all the children of the forest, she was just hoping that excitement would stay for his own kind.

"Sure, can nee-san come along?" questioned the brown themed boy, 'nee-san' was one of her species being of the same year as he was, and they became friends over there short life times, granted the relationship was somewhat abusive to the human child. But that was a thought for another day.

"Sorry sapling, nee-san can not come with you today, she has to stay home with her parents." as she looked at the boy he looked a bit crestfallen but quickly perked up, after all no one likes a downer.

"So, Kaa-san, when are we going to meet these new friends?" Question the boy with renewed vigor.

"As soon as I find them my sapling, you will meet them," mumbled the lady of the forest, as she began to walk off into the forest. Wondering how to pull this off without losing her child.

XxXxXx Later that week XxXxXx

A blonde haired, blue eyed, five year old was excited more excited then ever before, today was the big day, the day he had a whole day to spend with his Kaa-san. No nurses to try and make him eat healthy today, just a day with him, his Kaa-san and a lot of ramen. But the problem was, it was still too early to go to the park, and his mother would not let him leave early. So he had to sit and wait, which for him, was like sculpting a statue, without any working materials. But, with threats from his Kaa-san of lessened ramen, he attempted to still himself for another 15 minutes. When the torture he called, patience was finally over, he bolted out the door with his mother in tow and they were off to the park to enjoy the day together.

A similar yet different event was happening near the edge of the forest of Konoha, the sight was of a seemingly normal human mother, with bright green hair, dark green eyes, and bark covering her most private areas, with moss to cover any skin that could be seen as undignified. Along with a small five-year-old child that looked to be more of a tree then a kid, the only thing that made him separate from the forest backdrop was his arm sticking out of his cloak. Though these two looked to be nothing alike in the genetics department, if you could hear what one of them was saying to the youngest of the group. They would quickly rethink their first impression.

"Remember Sapling, if someone asks who you're parents are say that they left to go get something to eat," waiting for the boy to nod, she then continued on her laundry list of does and don'ts "Also, if they ask about the mask, say "it's a family tradition" hopefully that would be enough of an explanation for him or her." this time not even waiting for the boy to nod, she rushed on to say "also, do not leave the park, if you do, there will be no saving you from my wrath." waiting for the boys response of acceptance, she left him with her closing statement "make plenty of friends, and don't get into trouble, and be sure not to talk to the other children about anyone you know in the forest" with that being said she hugged him quickly and went off to do whatever mothers do when there children are playing.

But as this one-sided conversation was happening in the trees, another was happening in the park itself, but this one, instead of being between a green haired woman, and a brown haired child, this one was between a brown haired nurse, and a blonde haired child. "Alright Naruto, I want you to play nice," said the retired chunnin, waiting for the conformation sign from her adoptive child, "be sure to be outgoing, and don't get too dirty, I just washed these clothes." with these few warnings out of the way, she only had one more word of advice to give, "be nice and make lots of friends Naruto," with her last words said, she kissed him on the forehead, and sat down to prepare there afternoon meal.

Kasshoku no Kitsune had a problem, and whenever he had a problem he always thought about it, but this course of action did not seem to help him too much. The brown themed forest boy was looking around the park seeing all kinds of children laughing, running and playing, but he had no idea how to approach this. All he saw was chaos and confusion, much different then the tranquility of the forest, everything here was loud and flamboyant, while as in the forest, there was quiet, the craziest it ever got was when a bear would walk by harmlessly. But this place here was no forest, no, not in the least bit; it was a jungle, a jungle gym. He nervously approached the chaotic metal death trap and watched as all the other kids frolicked about the shining behemoth, he gulped as he walked closer to the chaos, resisting the urge to go back to the forest of normalcy, but no, he would not be defeated by the likes of this. And with this reawakened courage he put his hand in the air and yelled "CHARGE" and attacked the crazed distortion we call a playground.

Meanwhile, a certain lady of the forest developed a large sweat drop on her forehead as she watched the antics of her charge. As he lead an attack upon the unsuspecting play equipment.

But another five-year-old child by the name of Naruto was having a similar dilemma with approaching the playground. But he did not think of the jungle gym as the deathtrap that it was, no, he looked upon it and saw only adults glaring at him, and children being whisked away by said adults. But he looked around and saw another boy, who looked to be experiencing the same level of nervousness as he was. What he then saw made him laugh at weird kid, he put up his arm as if he was leading a group of ninja, and yelled 'Charge!' and ran right towards the playground. But then he saw him run into an older boy, seeming to be around the age of seven, he was fat, and often times picked on the little kids. Naruto walked in closer to hear the conversation the obese punk was having with the oddly dressed kid.

"Watch where you're going, you, you, you" he repeated as he searched through his mind for a decent insult. "Runner into person!" said the fat child with a sense of confidence, as he heard the chuckles of his equally fat friends behind him.

Not being one to let that bad an insult get by him, Kasshoku quickly rebutted with, "Runner into person, wow that's a great insult, I couldn't come up with a better one if I tried, oh wait, I can! Go eat some chicken you deep fried fatty!" He then looked at the bullies face now laced with anger after being insulted about his weight.

"Oh you little, you little, you little," as the still stunned bully repeated again searching his small wit for another insult "Never mind! Im just going to beat some respect into" he said with a hint of anger. Now here is where the blonde hero decided to come and even up the odds up to help the forest boy with the bullies. While the blonde boy was running to the rescue of Kasshoku no Kitsune, the fat bully began to wind up his punch, and was about to launch the sluggish assault upon the five-year-old frame that is Kasshoku, Naruto then crashed into the bully using all 45 pounds of force his small body could muster, needless to say this toppled the unbalanced bully. "Get off shrimp!" protested the currently pinned playground tyrant. With that empty order, two of his 'henchmen' picked up the blonde child and continued to restrain him. "Im going to show you you're place you twerp." said the grammatically incorrect child. But Kasshoku, not being one to be outdone, quickly jumped on the back of the bully and proceeded to wrestle him down to the ground. Naruto seizing the opportunity that his new found partner in crime presented, proceeded to step on the foot of one bully, and elbow the other in the gut, quickly tapping the brown themed child on the back, insinuating that they should get out of here. They began to run away from the bullies as the yelled terribly thought out insults at them. When the two children had a safe distance between them and the bullies, they fell down in exhaustion. After resting up a bit, Naruto started with a simple question.

"Hey, Kasshoku-san, what is your name?" asked the unaware blonde child of his accurate nickname for the boy.

"Just that, Kasshoku no Kitsune, now what's yours whisker boy?" replied the somewhat winded child.

"Uzumaki Naruto! Future Ninja of the leaf village!" Replied Naruto, as he crossed his arms over his chest.

"Thanks for helping me out back there, I probably would be tasting dirt back there if you didn't come by and tackle the mighty fat one." said the gracious forest boy.

"No problem, you probably would of beaten im down anyway, you brought him down really well." praised the blonde with a smile on his face. Then remembering what his Kaa-san asked him to do, "Hey, Kasshoku, do you want to play?" Questioned the blonde child,

"Sure, what do you want to play?" Asked the boy in brown,

"Ninja!" loudly proclaimed the Blonde haired child, as he dragged off his new friend to start there day of fun.

XxXxXx later that day XxXxXx

After three hours of fun and games, it was time to go home for the two children, Naruto had to find his Kaa-san, and then proceed to bug her about ninja training since, after all, he had found a friend in the oddly named 'Kasshoku no Kitsune'. When he came across his aforementioned mother, he proceeded to tell his mother about his newfound companion. Sighing with defeat, Rin decided she had no choice but to teach the little one the utmost basics of being a Ninja. Hopefully he would be at the very least a good student. With training ideas in her head and a tired Naruto in his bed, she began to daydream about what kind of man her blonde baby would become.

Meanwhile, in the forest, with the two forest dwellers, a content mother was smiling at the story her charge was telling her, and how he found a friend through beating up other children. Though she could not encourage such acts of bravado, the lady of the forest could not argue with the results, and now she could begin the training with her sapling and make him into a fine young man of the forest. With images of grandeur for the boy, and the tired child himself tucked into his moss bed gingerly, she began to daydream about what kind of man her brunette baby would become.

**(1) Species has two meanings, one of them being race, the other for being a type of currency, go connotative meanings!**

**At the end, there was an underlying message, its kind of obvious, but I felt the need to point it out.**

**-The old Yankee**


	3. Chapter 3

Brown Fox

Chapter 3

Training in the Trees

**I would like to thank soundless steps for pointing out my plot hole!**

Clichés, Kasshoku no Kitsune hated clichés, they were uncreative, unimaginative and most of all repetitive. But the thing he hated most about them, was there earthly truths the clichés presented, for instance, "Knowledge is power" is a major cliché, and his mother's new catch phrase ever since they started "training", but it was overwhelmingly true, knowledge was power, and it shall forever remain that way. But that never stopped him from hating his tutoring, but nonetheless he was eager to learn whatever his Kaa-san had to teach him.

Kasshoku was then stirred out of his musings; by a tree branch currently being held by his Kaa-san hit him on the forehead. "Pay attention sapling, you will need this information to survive, and ill be damned if any child of mine will go without the knowledge of writing!" exclaimed the lady of the forest, as she quickly went back to her teachings about the fine art of ad hominem argument (1). But, being the smart ever-vigilant eight-year-old child he is, Kasshoku could not let that slight error in speech get away that easily.

"Kaa-san, 'ill' is not proper speech, it is 'I will be damned', 'not ill be damned'" confident in his victory over his mother, he smugly smiled back, only to be hit again, but not with the branch, but with a rock.

"Give me fifty," yelled the now angered and slightly proud mother, she had been giving him lessons in everything from herb recognition to noun clause (2) recognition and he had been absorbing it up as a sponge, cliché references aside. Today was the day that she would begin to teach the boy the darker arts, the arts of war, she had been looking upon this day with longing eyes, along with a heavy heart, because, for today he would learn to become much stronger, and his once innocent hands of youth shall be smeared. After the boy did his punishment, or for a better term, warm up exercise, she looked at him again, and spoke "Today young sapling, you will begin your physical training" looking at the now smiling young boy, "No, this does not mean we are done with the teachings of rhetoric and the finer points of the forest's bounty." Seeing the boy's spirits come back down to earth, she proceed to push him along till he was standing right in front of the tree. "Kasshoku" said the lady of the forest, waiting for the attention of her charge/child. "I want you" looking at the boys eyes grow large at the possibility of what his Kaa-san might tell him. "To talk to this member of the forest" finished the lady of the forest. As the lady of the forest pointed to a simple tree, noticing the child's confused looks.

"Kaa-san, how do I talk to a member of the forest? You said they would remain silent until someone they find worthy of their wisdom would come along." Replied the dumbfounded child, would he be worthy? Only Kaa-san and nee-san ever spoke to him, but never any other trees of the forest.

"Sapling, you are worthy, all you have to do is greet the tree" stated the lady of the forest as she watched her charge nervously approach the oak tree, he had the right to be nervous, she always spoke highly of her fellow member's of the forest, almost if they were some sort of supernatural being. But the nervousness was quickly brushed away as he approached the tree and began to speak.

"Member of the forest," he started, trying to get the attention of the tree, not getting any response, he continued to say again "Member of the forest." Nothing, Kasshoku was starting to get angry, reigning in his anger he stated once again "Member of the Forest" nothing, he thought to himself 'one more try, then this member of the forest will never ignore anyone again'

"_Whoever said I was ignoring you?"_

"Whose there?" asked the now frightened boy, as he waited for a response, and when none came, he assumed that he was just loosing it, maybe his mother just hit him too hard, as Kasshoku began to walk away he heard the ominous voice again.

"_Who's ignoring whom now?"_

"Wha?" he spoke out loud, still not understanding the requirements for speech to the wizened tree, he stopped, and spun around on his heel to face the tree again, beginning to grasp the concept of the tree, 'Can I only speak to you through my thoughts?' asked the child, as he waited for a response.

"_You call them 'thoughts' we call it 'talking' but either way, yes' _Replies the tree with a bit of a holier then thou attitude.

'Honorable member of the forest, I present myself, Kasshoku no Kitsune,' he thought, as he kneeled down, waiting for the command from the tree.

"_Get up sapling, there is no need to bow to me, _we_ have been in touch ever since you were a babe, after all, my roots have been your pillow for a rather long time." _ Kasshoku then proceeded to slap himself in the face, of course this tree new him, his bed was on the other side of the member of the forest, well, whenever it was not winter time.

"_Tell your mother, that you have spoken, and the trees have listened,_" Then, something occurred to Kasshoku.

'Okay, you said that you were not ignoring me when you first spoke in my mind, but that would mean that you could hear me, and that I did not have to figure out to speak through my thoughts" challenged Kasshoku.

"_uhhh GOODBYE"_ replied the panicked member of the forest. As the forest member severed the connection between the two minds.

"Wow, who knew pointing out the obvious could freak people out like that?" but as he finished his rhetorical question, a familiar presence walked up behind him, carrying a small bow, but with no arrows, now before Kasshoku could question his Kaa-san's need of such items, he was quickly scooped up and brought to a clearing in the forest.

"Sapling" stated the Lady of the Forest; she was wearing her usual get up, consisting of bark to cover up the most private areas, and moss to cover the skin, so no to appear too free spirited. Her hair was done up in a single thick braid, reaching down to her shoulders. But her face was adorned with a look of seriousness, one that she wore the majority of the time, only to be replaced with a caring face for all those tender childhood moments.

"Yes Kaa-san?" replied Kasshoku, as he looked up at his mother, though he had grown as any normal child would, his attire had not grown as such, only getting larger, and somewhat dirtier as he aged. He style was practical and durable, two things you need for growing up in the forest.

"You have seen me use a bow plenty of times, now, I want you to forget what you saw you will learn to use this in an entirely different way, while I would use this to kill a rabbit, you will use it to kill a man" solemnly stated the sensei, with a tone of distaste when talking about killing man.

"Kaa-san, you always say killing is bad, why must I kill people?" asked the shocked child, the forest had been too kind to him, with the tranquility and peace of the surrounding forest, he had no real danger, the boy was sheltered, but that would be destroyed with the real world, the world he belonged to.

"Because sapling, the outside world is not like the forest, there is no bounty, no morale standard, people may try to take advantage of your innocence to use you, and I will not have that become of my child." Yes, she said my child, she broke about a year ago, and he just grew on her, no pun intended. Accepting the answer, Kasshoku picked up the bow his Kaa-san gave him, three and a half feet span, not too large, but then again, neither was he. He then wondered what his Kaa-san meant by telling him to forget the way one would use the weapon.

"What do you mean, 'forget how to use it' Kaa-san?" asked Kasshoku

"Sapling, there is a certain way you can learn how to use this bow," waiting a few moments for the boy's undivided attention. "In utter silence" finished the Lady of the Forest.

"How? The bow string would make sound, would it not?" replied the confused child, waiting for his Kaa-san's explanation.

"Using chakra my child, now tell me, what is chakra?"

"Chakra is a mixture of spiritual and physical power, and is used to complete various ninja techniques, and perform various feats," replied Kasshoku, it was no textbook answer, but it sure got the job done.

"One more thing sapling," Said the now irritated Lady of the Forest. She must have reminded the boy of his constant error a hundred times.

"Oh yea, its your life force, keeps you alive and all that good stuff." finished the boy, not at all phased by his mother's irritation.

"Well, you are going to learn how to use this bow without making a sound, by stopping the sound from escaping," waiting for the eight year olds nodding approval she went on to explain the basics of the exercise. "Alright, this is rather simple, for me, but for you, its nearly impossible, but that's just because of experience, all you have to do is shape your chakra in the same way the bow is bent, and then tighten the chakra in till it is a hairs width away. " (3) Waiting for the child's nod of approval, he thought this was going to be easy, but if there was one thing she loved to do, it was shoot the boy down, his ego could get the best of him sometimes. "This exercise will take about…" she stopped her speech, to pause for dramatic effect, "Six months, and I don't want to see you shoot a single arrow!" the boy was shocked at this, six months? That was like half a year! Crazy talk! But his Kaa-san had an annoying way of always being right. "And if I see you shoot an arrow, I will tell Nee-san where you sleep," that, positively scared the child, Though Nee-san was the same age as he was. She was really mean, the majority of the time, just like his mother was serious, but with another similarity to his mother, she also was nice, at certain times even to offer help in his writing studies, or a person to play with when he got really bored. "Lets begin sapling, oh by the way, what day is it?" ignoring the fact the question was way out of left field, she waited for the boys reply to her question.

"I think its Wednesday Kaa-san," answered Kasshoku.

"Good, we will see your whiskered friend tomorrow, now remember," before the Lady of the Forest could finish her child cut her off.

"Don't tell him he has half of a nine-tailed demon inside of him," finished Kasshoku, though he had no idea why, its not like it is a big deal, he learned about it when he was three, but Naruto did seem like the one to overreact to things. He remembered the first day he met him, he felt so stupid for not noticing it instantly, he even called him 'whiskers'. He told his Kaa-san about his mistake earlier and she was so happy about his shortcomings.

"Now, get to work sapling, you have six months of standing alone focusing chakra around a bow, now have fun!" she said with a sarcastic voice, as she went off laughing at the nauseating boredom the next half-year would cause the boy. But as soon as his Kaa-san left, he heard a familiar sound, it was coursing through the ground at a break-neck speed, and before he knew it, the familiar presence broke out of the ground as two dirt covered roots, and attached on to his arms, making him lose focus on his bow and keeping his arms preoccupied. The familiar presence began to speak.

"What's up fox?" asked the familiar presence in an all to knowing voice, this was the all-famous Nee-san, well; she would like to think she is famous. After her initial question, she released her roots' hold on Kasshoku no Kitsune.

"Practicing my bow skills," he said in a semi-enthusiastic tone, as he readied the bow again to flow chakra throughout it.

"Only you would practice with a bow, with no arrows retard" insulted the Child of the Forest, as she began to get some dirt out of short green hair, the eight-year-old girl was almost completely covered in moss and bark, being only of the age of eight, and not losing any part of her coverings.

Kasshoku being used to this daily barrage, did not fall victim to her attempt to rile him up, but instead asked the all-important question. "So, what are you doing here Nee-san?" questioned the boy, "you are usually with your parents at this time of day".

"What? I can't just say 'hi' to my favorite brown themed fox?" she said with a slight pout, as if to mock her own true intentions.

"'Hi' does not involve shooting roots at me Nee-san" rebutted Kasshoku, "Now, what do you need Nee-san?"

"A punching bag" said the Child of the Forest, as if it was the most normal request ever.

"Sorry Nee-san, you can't beat me up today, I have to practice using chakra with my bow. "

"Bah! You're no fun, you mommas-boy, ill be over here having the time of my life," Said the child of the forest, as an attempt to lure the boy out of his work. 'She will be back, she always comes back after the first attempt to draw me out, well, better find a new spot to practice.' Thought the Forest boy, hoping his long time companion would not take it upon herself to find his new location.

--------------Naruto's House-------------

An eight-year-old Uzumaki Naruto came running through the house, excited about his first day at the Ninja academy, already waiting at the door for his Kaa-san to walk him to the Ninja academy. Though he constantly begged his Kaa-san for the ability to walk himself to the school, but his Kaa-san would not have it. Like any good hyperactive child would do while waiting, he began to fidget waiting for his ever slow mother to wake up and get ready for the day. "Naruto!" yelled the tired mother, "There is another hour before the academy, quit waiting by the door and sit down, I know your excited but"

"Patience is a virtue" finished Naruto, he picked up the habit of finishing statements from his best friend Kasshoku, even with his strange name, and even stranger way of dressing, he was still really cool, if even more weird at times.

"Exactly," stated the now full time nurse, after today Naruto would be at the academy for the duration of her regular work hours, leaving her no worries about his whereabouts. This would also bring in more income, and have her favor free from her friends. But still, Rin hoped that the child would get up on a more regular time, though she loved the boy as a son, his hyperactive mindset would be her end. "Young one, what day is it today?" asked Rin, still wiping the sleep away from her eyes.

"Wednesday, tomorrow we are going to go see Kasshoku right?" excitedly questioned Naruto.

"Yes, yes, only if you are good today, now, do you want some breakfast?" questioned the loving mother, as she pulled out some cereal for the hyperactive boy, the box was plain, and along with the cereal, the boy needed no more energy then what was already flowing through his veins.

"Sure Kaa-san!" replied the hungry boy, in all his excitement; he forgot to have his favorite meal of the day, breakfast! And with that, the boy happily sat down and talked with his Kaa-san waiting for the hour to be up.

XxXxXx One Hour later XxXxXx

Naruto walked into the classroom, immediately scoping out the classroom, trying to figure out his fellow shinobis in training. Only to find out he was the first one there due to his eagerness to get to the academy. Though, the place itself was nothing like he imagined, he expected all kinds of ninjas using cool jutsus to fight each other. All he saw was rows of desks, each one higher then the one in front of it, raised in order to give a better view to the person occupying the desk.

"Hey Naruto!" called out Iruka, the scarred chunnin had looked after Naruto a lot when he was younger, and helped train him a bit whenever Naruto could pester him to do it. The boy was a sponge in just about everything, being able to grasp a concept at an incredible rate. Nothing was too daunting for the boy; the only thing stopping him was his age, and his ever-doting mother. But nonetheless, the boy was a genius, if given personal instruction, but he was not here to give personal instruction, he was here to give class instruction.

"Hey Iruka-sensei" replied the blonde haired child "Are you the new teacher here?"

"Yes I am Naruto, I will be your instructor for however long you are in this academy" The blond haired boy was wearing nothing too extraordinary his clothes would make him blend into any crowd, he was wearing a pair of khaki cargo pants, and a blue t-shirt, indistinguishable from any other boy of his age. He was then brought out of his observations by the entrance of the rest of the students, in all of there eight-year-old glory. The class began to make a ruckus as they all clamored to get to there seats, eager to have there moldable minds crafted by the master artisan that is Iruka.

"Settled down class, settle down," Said the scarred chunnin to the rambunctious class in a futile effort to silence the noisy rookie class. "Quiet!" yelled Iruka, happy with his newfound peacefulness. "I am your new teacher, I will be bestowing my knowledge upon you for the next five years, now, Look to your left" As he said that the entire class proceeded to look to the left, the unfortunate few on the far side of the roomed failing to grasp the concept. "Now look to your right," the same effect as the last order, but this time with the far right side. "The people you see, are now your comrades, by the end of these five years, I want you to know everything about them, their favorite food, their favorite game, their favorite color, everything." he paused for dramatic even. "These fellow academy students, shall be your brethren, your war bound, your comrades, your fellow ninja. Along with them you will pass many a obstacle, you will overcome any adversity, and you obliterate any opposition." pausing to take a breath, Iruka went on "Get to know them well, you will see the high and low of each others Ninja lives. Keep in mind the high, and banish the low." after ending his speech the scared chunnin went on to ask "Now class, I would like for each of you to come down here one at a time and introduce yourself," Then, one by one, the newly inducted eight-year-old children began to give there names.

"Uzumaki Naruto"

"Uchiha Sauske"

"Nara Shikamaru"

"Yamanaka Ino"

"Haruno Sakura"

"Inuzaku Kiba"

"Hyuga Hinita"

"Aburame Shino"

"Akimichi Choji"

Naruto knew that Kasshoku would not be attending the Ninja academy; he said that his mother would train him and he would become a ninja through that training. Though never one to give up hope, he was still saddened when he did not hear his best friends name from the introductions. "Alright class" Iruka stated, trying to get the attention of the class again, "let us begin the next five years of your instruction!"

XxXxXx That Night XxXxXx

Two eight year old children, both exhausted from the days events, lye in there separate beds, in two completely different worlds, with two polar outlooks on life, think the same thought. 'When I grow up im going to kick some serious ass' and with that thought, they fell asleep, both hoping that tomorrow's events are just as exciting as today.

**Ad hominem argument is Latin for: To or against man, this is an appeal to the emotions, rather then logic.**

**A type of clause, that can take the place of a noun in a sentence,**

**A bit of Teehee Physics there, but what's fiction if we do not break the rules?**

**-The old Yankee**


	4. Chapter 4

Brown Fox

Chapter Four

The Sorrow of the Lady of the Forest and the Joy of the City life

October third, nine years after that day, the day that changed everything, the day that killed the hero of a decimated people. The day that gave two mother's their children, each to receive the unique love of these women. This day created two different yet similar entities, one of them calm and logical, the other, excited and emotional. These days, the children are living happy lives, one in the forest, and the other in the city. But on this day, the day of October third, at one in the morning, we see a mother, looking at her son, with eyes filled with sorrow.

The Lady of the Forest, known to her loving son, as Kaa-san, was currently crying, while staring at her son's sleeping body. Why was she crying? For the reason why every mother cries, she must send her son away, into the Human's jungle, the jungle with no love, no bounty, and no sense. With nothing but violence, debauchery and drunkenness, this world, was not a world any child of the forest should live in. But the elders, oh those damned elders, deemed that her child, the child they gave her, needed to be released. She had known this fact, the second she picked up the child, that she would not have the boy forever. But even with this previous knowledge, she could not help but feel sorrow. How was a mother supposed to send her child out to the unknown, especially at such a young age? She was asking that question herself, as she searched her mind. This was the most difficult thing she has ever done in her short, yet long in human years, life. The Lady of the Forest was 76, young for her people, the superior people, but old for the humans, the lesser and undignified people. She then realized something about what she just said, the Lady of the Forest had raised a Human child, and loves the human child, no, not a child, a man, at least after his tenth year. She would have to abandon her child, and not chase after him, and the child would have to intermingle with the lesser race. She knew he would live, the boy was taught how to survive, how to kill, how to gain ones trust, how to write, and many more things. But he has not been taught sadness, the boy had never been truly saddened, his sheltered life had been a happy life. The Lady of the Forest came across another point of sorrow, and sighed, with tears still in her eyes. Kasshoku still did not know of his actual race, though she had never said there was a difference between him and herself. She expected that he knew, at least at a subconscious level, that his mother was not like himself, he had never had bark, nor the ability to grow moss, or even control roots. He was a Child of the Forest, without being of the Forest. The Lady of the Forest got onto her feet, and then began to walk away, still having tears of sap running down her face. In the End, she was a Lady of the Forest, otherwise known as a Tree, and he was a Human. And she had to say goodbye.

Morning came around, still being the third of October. Kasshoku no Kitsune woke up, stretching his limbs, as he awoke, ignoring the sticky ground to his right. He got up and readjusted his cloak, picking up his bow, along with his quiver of arrows. The boy had mastered the silencing exercise, clichés aside; it was second nature to him. The quiver he had wrapped across his back, had a bark base, and the rest was made of moss, shaped to look like a cylinder. He never quite knew why he could not make moss and bark like his friend Nee-san. But he never gave it much thought. He then checked his belt, it was made out of leather, skinned from a deer, his first meal kill, the belt had loops, the perfect size for carrying many types of knives, ranging from skinning knives to killing knives. He readjusted that too, it was too big for him, a similar story for the majority of his wardrobe. Under the 'You will grow into it' law, it was uncomfortable, but lo and behold, his Kaa-san was right, he was growing into it, albeit not at leaps and bounds. Looking around, trying to find his Kaa-san, he eventually started walking around the forest, trying to smell the cooking of food, but smelling none. This confused him, there was always food cooking in the morning, that was one of the things his Kaa-san had always done. "Kaa-san!" Yelled Kasshoku. The forest boy's mother was over a mile away, crying her wooden heart out, over the abandonment of her child. She was walking away, being sure to take Nee-san with her; she would not be as willing to let him go. Not that she was, but her duty came above her child, as much as the Lady of the Forest hated to say it. She heard the yell of her child again; she increased her pace, running away from her source of sorrow. As she continued to cry sap, the brown liquid being her life substance, as long as a sign of sadness.

Kasshoku no Kitsune was scared, this was strange, no response from his mother, he was walking towards the usual spot where he could find his Kaa-san. When the panicked arrived, he found a note, lying gently on top of the wet morning grass, he picked up the note, and began to read what it said.

_To my Dearest Sapling,_

_It is time, a time which I do not look upon with happiness, it is a time of sorrow, this is your time to leave, I do this with a heavy heart, heavier then the thickest boulder. By the decree of the elders, I am to send you away, away to the world of the humans, to become more with them though you have probably already realized it. You are not one of us Kasshoku; you are a human, a human boy at that, you will be able to return to the embrace of the forest after three years, become strong Kasshoku, and become strong in the world of the humans. Make many friends, and few enemies._

_Your Kaa-san, Lady of the Forest._

To say he was shocked was like saying that a waterfall only gives out a little water, he had a wide range of emotions, he was not angry at the elders, no, they work in mysterious ways as his Kaa-san put it. And he was not angry with his mother. He was angry with no one being, he was angry at one thing. It was the lack of a reason, so what if I am not part of their species? Have I not adapted well? Have I not been a good Child of the Forest? These questions plagued him, but then, another one, one with much more fear in it. Where will I go? He could go to wherever Naruto is, but he had no idea where it was, and he did not have any way of knowing if he could get room and board there. He could live in the forest more, but he was sent away from his mother, that probably insinuates that he must also leave the forest. So, with no malice in his 10 year old heart, but much sorrow, he left his home land, and went in search of a an adventure.

Three days into his new grand adventure, Kasshoku was encountering a problem, boredom, food and water was no problem for him, after all, he grew up in the forest, and hunted for his own food often. But boredom was a new feeling for the Forest Boy; his mother would always have some way to entertain him, whether it is by her lectures, or by her physical training regime, though her training was not difficult any child of his age could theoretically do it, but he definitely was not weak, if he pushed himself he could maybe hold up 100 pounds. Which he thought was impressive for his age, but had no one else to compare it to. But the reason for Kasshoku's boredom was because he was passing through Rice country, which is miles, upon miles, upon even more miles, of plain land. But before he could sigh for the fifteenth hundred time, he looked over the hill to see to his relief a town! Granted, Kasshoku had very little city experience, his town experience was better, albeit not too much better. He started to sprint, where there was a town, there were people, where there were people, there was entertainment, and where there was entertainment, there was fun. And he was in short supply of that valuable element. With thirty minutes of a dead wind sprint, Kasshoku was tired, but was slowly regaining his energy, as he caught his breath, he walked into town hoping to find something interesting.

Kasshoku walked through the small town, its population being less then 500, not too much going on here, just some traders, an inn, standard issue housing, and a bar, and though his 10 year old mind did not understand its purpose, a brothel. Now, as our wandering forest boy looked around the small town, he noticed an act of commotion, there was a drunkard, or someone who he assumed to be drunk by the stumbling he was doing as he walked, and the broken bottles around him, his inebriated rage was directed at a girl, assumed to be roughly 12 years old, who had red hair, and a bloody alcohol filled cut across her tender face. Now Kasshoku has never been told about an archetype as a 'Knight in Shining Armor', so he would naturally not be angry at himself for filling this cliché role. He drew his bow, as silently as he could, and crept up behind the drunkard, spitting out something about little girls and not stealing. He used his silencing skill, to pull the string back, arrow attached to the bow, and he aimed for the leg, the hamstring to be more exact, he released the string. The arrow hit, the drunk buckled under the pain, he would live, if he did not bleed out. The red head, with bread in hand, and a look of surprise upon her face, she looked at her savior, and frowned.

"What's your name," Asked the red head, surprised of her savior's short stature and even younger age.

"Kasshoku no Kitsune" he said, with a bit of pride in it, his friend Naruto had rubbed off on him. "What's yours red-headed-cutie?" asked Kasshoku, as he wondered if the gash on her face was fatal.

Before the red head could answer, the drunkard yelled at the boy, "Brat! That hurt! Im gonna get you, you little bastard!" with the threat being said the boy ran away, trying not to attract too much attention with his retreat. This commotion also allowed the 12-year-old girl to sneak away, thanking Kami for the stupid, albeit somewhat courageous, boy for saving her.

Though this adventure would be enough for the day with the newly dubbed idiot-hero, after he escaped the sloppy grip of a drunkard, he came across a Member of the Forest; now this Member was strange, because he had none of his brethren around him not only that, but it's bark was black, as black as the night, with brown leaves. Kasshoku went up and talked to the blackened tree, with his usual greeting. 'Hello Honorable Member of the Forest' thought Kasshoku, not quite expecting what happened next. The supposed Member of the Forest shifted into its traveling form, which would resemble a human and he walked up to the brown themed forest child, the supposed member of the forest spoke.

"I am no longer 'Of the Forest' child, that was a long time ago, but you, you look like you were just sent out, but look nothing like a Member," Pausing for a moment, the member went on "so you must be the Elder's new plan, whatever it may be." finished the former Member of the Forest. "Can you use that bow Child?" Kasshoku nodded, "Well, lets see it boy, lets see what you got." Kasshoku readied an arrow, pulled back the bow, the wood not letting out a single sound. he released the arrow, seeing it fly, off the far off plain. "Well, it looks like you know how to silence your shot, though that's basic," stated the blackened tree, the mysterious member had black bark covering his private parts, with black moss covering the rest of him, basic forest wear. "Hmm, shoot another please." he asked again, knowing full well that the boy was out of arrows, he laughed a bit watching the boy reach for a arrow, only to find his on empty. "Don't worry child, you can take some from my trunk." offered the blackened tree.

The boy a bit shocked about this replied with. "Take your wood?" blissfully unaware of the double meaning but went on anyway "Kaa-san said I should just purchase arrows, not take them from the trees"

The black member laughed "Child, fear not of what your mother says, if a tree offers you ammunition, it is okay to partake of some, just be sure to not do it without permission. The boy nodded, and put his hand on the black member, yet again, unaware of the innuendo. And thought of making arrows, with that thought being made, the arrows tore from the member's torso, and were placed into his hand, a bundle of 20, all of them seeming to be made out of one piece of wood. "Good, looks like you have the ability to do that, means you have received a lot of survival training." the boy looked up curiously at the man, and wondered how he knew of his training. "Child, what's your name?"

"Kasshoku no Kitsune" answered the child, who now had a name. That settled it for the black member, he knew what was going on here, and, this could benefit him and the child too. He probably did not have that much for offensive purposes, the forest has always been too gentle. Well, he would teach the boy, but not all at once of course. Things acquired with too little effort, are valued too lightly. But he would teach him the most basic to begin with.

"Kasshoku-san, do you know any offensive skills?" asked the black member.

"No, unless you count my bow and arrow" then Kasshoku thought of something "What should I call you ex-member of the Forest"

"Call me Sensei Kasshoku-san, I will teach you some basics of the aggressive arts, you will need them for the future ahead of you." with that, the semester with the dark sensei began. And Kasshoku's new adventure began. But little did he now, the sorrow his choice of directions had caused his friend.

------Konoha's Playground-------

At a playground, filled with orphans and lonely children a blonde ten year old was crying, sad that his best friend did not show up on the usual Thursday a few days before his birthday, he dropped the birthday invitation and ran back to his Kaa-san to cry about the disappearance of his best friend.

Unknowingly to him, another 10 year old girl who was even more sheltered then Kasshoku, picked up the invitation, read the address, and went into to town, to buy a present for the boy, the boy that happened to be her crush. It would be difficult convincing her father to lend her money to purchase a gift, but she could lie and say it was for another person, she just needed to rehearse. And try to get past her stutter. She had noticed, she was much more convincing if she did not stutter, but stopping her stutter was like stopping white water rapids, with nothing but a toothpick. But she would do this for Naruto, to cheer him up with the lost of his best friends. And hopefully she would fill the empty spot for a friend. Maybe if she played her cards right, and puberty was nice to her, a Girlfriend with the thought finished she went back to her house, determined to practice her speech, and get the money needed for a present, this she swore!

------one hour, and one lie later------

With Hinata's battle against her stutter won, Hinata got the money needed, the Hyuga, being known for their seriousness and stone-faced expression. Had a secret, this secret was equated to one Hyuga Hinata, she was everything a Hyuga was not supposed to be, a Hyuga was supposed to be uncaring, she cared more then the sun cared for the earth. Always showing its brightness and care for the water ball. Much as she did with Uzumaki Naruto, though unlike the sun, she did not shine as the fireball did, but she would one day change that, maybe puberty would give her the courage. She then realized something, she needed a cover story for the gift, if her father asked one of the other mothers if they enjoyed Hinata's gift, or even worse, decided to go to the party, she would be doomed, but then it occurred to her, she was not popular. This fact would help her a lot, she would simply be uninvited, and she would still give the gift though since that is the polite thing to do, she just would not be able to join Naruto. Which saddened her, but if the gift is good enough, he would never forget it. And is that not what she was going for? But with her evil plan to get away with disobedience was finalized, she come across another, what does one get for their 10-year-old crush, Hinata certainly had no idea, all she knew about Naruto was that he was really determined, and kind of cute. But other then that, she knew nothing of the blonde boy. But then she thought of his friend, that Kasshoku kid, the boy lived up to his name, covered in nothing but brown, and dressed very strangely, with the cloak and mask. She often wondered what was under that mask, but left the boy to his privacy. Then she thought of how he acted, and how everything he did have a purpose, never really making any unnecessary movements, though most Non-Hyuga's would find this observation a strange one, but for a Hyuga, who lives off of exact movements and has the 'all seeing eyes' nothing escaped her eyes. Hinata came to a realization, what better gift, then a gift you use every day. And what does Naruto wishes he did everyday? eat ramen, she remembers him always getting excited about ramen, and how he would always perk up no matter what the reason. When it came to ramen, and with that, it was finalized she would get him a ramen bowl, and an orange one at that. Her plan was flawless, now it was just a matter of putting it into effect.

--------Back with Kasshoku and his Sensei-------

"No! Focus more power into the arrow!" criticized the newly dubbed sensei, "You need to focus your chakra into the arrow, to strengthen the arrow, and give it the ability to pierce!" Ignoring the recurring theme of inappropriate innuendos, he continued to instruct the boy, which in truth was not doing half bad, for one so young at least. "Imagine the chakra wrapping around the arrow, as if you were bandaging a wound" explained the sensei, who was now watching the boy put his use of imagery into motion, The look of focus on the Brunette was something to be applauded, the forest chose a unique one, that's for sure. But, he was not without flaws, though his humor was unique, he was not very creative, at least, not as much as one would expect from a 10 year old boy, he required precise explanations to understand a technique. But when he received the aforementioned instructions, he was golden. Looking back down at the practicing child, he saw him understand the practice, it was a little known fact, but the Members of the Forest, and in his case Ex-Members, could see some faint lines of Chakra, no where close to the ability of the Uchiha's though. With this nifty trick, he continued to look at how the boy was using his chakra, with every shot. He improved by a small margin. This rate of mastery was remarkable, this skill took him a month to get where he was, but with only 4 hours of training, he was a quarter of the way done. Was this the skill of the Humans? The level of mastery that the apparently 'inferior' humans held, this one might just be a fluke; if so, then it is a good thing, the forest snatched him up he would be a valuable asset to the Elders. Whatever they plan to do with the boy, He began to think back to when he was a Lord of the Forest. No, those times are done, he has made his sacrifice, and he must live with it. "Kasshoku, you must be getting hungry"

"You practically read my stomach," replied Kasshoku, as he waited to get his Sensei's approval for him to go out hunting.

"Go, and get some grub, you deserve it, you have made great progress in your training." complimented the black member, "But be wary of success, never let it get to your head, always find ways to improve, never stay stationary in your training,' He warned. As the Sensei finished, Kasshoku ran off, eager to find a rabbit to become his next meal. "That boy will change the Forest, for better or worse pray that his skill does not fall into the wrong hands."

-------4 days later, Naruto's Birthday-------

Like most exciting days in Naruto's life, they ultimately end up shortening of his Kaa-san's sleeping schedule. One would think that his mother would change, go to bed earlier and be prepared to wake up early. But oh does she love those late night sitcoms, and the hilarious events that take place, especially the one show that has a hyperactive 10 year old, who always pulls his mother out of bed, to get her to prepare for the days events. She had no idea why though, when she thought about it, the premise was stupid. "Kaa-san! We have to get ready for the party; all of my classmates are coming! We got to get ready!" thought she appreciated the child's enthusiasm for the party, he had yet to realize there was another six hours till daybreak.

"Sweetie, there is like 10 hours before the sun even begins to come up!" stated the tired nurse, who had a bad habit of exaggerating.

"No! There is only six hours in till daybreak!" Naruto had an even worse habit of pointing an exaggeration. The boy was still saddened by the loss of his friend Kasshoku, but that would not get him down, his fault for missing the party of the year!

Being aggravated about being called out on her bluff, she resulted to threats, and she knew just where to strike. "If Kaa-san doesn't get her sleep Naru-Chan, then no Ramen!" The look of fear on the boys face was evident as he quickly ran out of his mother's room into his own and proceeded to crawl under the sheets and pray his ramen would still be there for his birthday.

------Six to Ten hours later, depending on point of view-----

Rin stared at the clock, seeing the digital number slowly turn to 7:00, as the electric lights slowly turned to the morning digits, she was attacked, not by enemy ninjas with a grudge but by something much worse, a Hyperactive 10 year old boy on his birthday. She silently cursed the training she gave the 10 year old boy, though it would help him in the long run, at the moment, it was the bane of her existence. Much like everything else, he learned it at a speed unheard of for his age. Often times mastering whatever she gave him in a matter of hours. Instead of days like it would take normal children. Though due to her job as a Nurse, she had very little time to privately tutor the boy, but whenever she did, Rin made sure she had a long lesson plan for her son. If she remembered right, the boy had learned all the basics, and then some with a few fire techniques under his control, and all of the essential ninja skills beneath his metaphorical belt. He was on his way to becoming a fine ninja. "Kaa-san! Lets get ready for the party!" though the boy was now up at a decent time, there was now the problem of him being five hours too early for party time.

"Young one, there is another five hours in till your party quests arrive." stated the aggravated mother, she should expect this by now, the boy never needed any sleep, it was always 'go go go' never 'stay stay stay'. "Why don't we do some light running sweetie, that'll destroy your ever-constant energy.

"Sure Kaa-san, maybe we will see Gai-san!" stated the blonde haired child. Unlike most parents, Rin liked Gai, Gai was a good guy, though a bit kooky at times, his heart was always in the right place, and if you could ever get him to stop talking about the flames of youth, you could get a serious response out of him. Though that was more rare then a blue moon.

"Maybe we will get him to finally train you, like he always promises to do" If there was one negative thing Gai did, it was forget, the man had the short term memory of a goldfish, constantly forgetting things. Though, if there were important he would have no problem, but if it was like, feed your fish. The poor aquatic creature would be dead within three days.

"Yea! Then I can wear a green jumpsuit and be super cool!"

"No!" yelled his mother, with enough denial to shoot down a meteor. "No son of mine will be wearing a green jumpsuit, but a son of mine will get a taijutsu instructor to teach him how to fight!" argued Rin, after there plan was set, the two family members went off to prepare for there run around Konoha.

With their run around the village done, and a good 3 hours killed, it was now time for Naruto and Rin to get ready for the blonde boy's 10th birthday. As Rin hung up the festive, obviously orange colored decorations, she sent off her child to get into the bath, and wash away all of his ten year old sweat. She thought back to how much preparation this took, she had to talk to three separate clan heads, and she had to talk to the Hokage for the ability to get the Uchiha to come to the party. His older brother had murdered the boy's family, she felt sorry for the raven-haired boy, but she nonetheless got permission for him to come. Along with the three other clan heads, it had been difficult, but well worth it. The two hours passed by like lightning, and she had barely gotten all of the decorations together, with a little help from her favorite blonde she managed to get everything into place. Then, as predictable as night and day, a knock was heard at the door, but what was not expected, was who the person was.

Hinata's foolproof plan had one major flaw, and she just now realized it. Naruto's mother, that was one variable she forgot to put into the equation, the mother of her crush could easily call upon the wrath of her father, she was doomed, doomed like raw steak to a hungry lion.

Rin was doomed, doomed like a chewy steak to a puma, unless she thought fast, and she knew just what to do, "Hinita! You must of convinced your father to come here all by yourself, come one in!" Rin knew this was total bullshit, her father would of never let her come without at least 10 guards, and even then without the proper paperwork, she attempted to get into a meeting with the old bastard, but there was a month long waiting list. So she just gave up, she loved her son, but the Hyuga's were impossible to deal with.

Hinita sighted with relief, Naruto's mother was as gullible as her cute son, she was in, and without any interference. She then proceeded to walk into the living room, only to be blinded by the orange and green, apparently, Gai's color of choice became his second favorite, but Hinata did not know this. she sat down on the couch, and then politely asked Naruto's mother where to put the present. "Uzumaki-san, w-he-re d-o I pu-t the p-res-e-nt?" she said in her usual stutter, she was getting nervous, and that never bodes well for her.

"Right over there Hinata-san" as she pointed to the corner of the room, marked off with orange streamers on the ground, and labeled clearly with a sign stating 'Put presents here' Hinata had a sweat drop form on her head, she was a Hyuga, how in the ninja world did she not see that?

"Rin-san wh-er-e is Na-ruto-Kun," asked the stuttering heiress.

"I have no idea Hinata-san, he should be in his room." replied Rin, in a bit of an annoyed tone, he was so eager to get ready for his birthday, and now he isn't ready when people have arrived. He will never hear the end of this, or her name is not Rin! "Hold on a second Hinata-san, I must go retrieve my hypocritical son," said the now angered nurse, as she stormed off to talk to the loveable blonde child. But before she could scold the child, he dashed out of his room, all ready to start his party.

"Hinata! I did not know you could make it!" said the excited blonde "I thought you had some freaky clan stuff to do, like some freaky sealing ritual or something" Said the blonde unaware of his partial accuracy.

"N-o Nar-uto-kun, I wo-ul-d no-t mi-ss yo-ur pa-rt-y fo-r an-y-thin-g" (1) said the 10 year old heiress, as she looked at her object of affection. He was wearing a navy blue ninja top, along with a pair of similar pants, he essentially was wearing a chunnin's outfit, minus the vest, spiral trinkets and all, though she had no idea why he was wearing such clothes on his birthday, but it still made him look cool.

"Awesome Hinata-chan! But we got to wait for the other people to get here, since apparently they are late," said the Blonde, ending the statement with a bit of discontent.

"I-m su-re the-y wi-ll sh-ow u-p event-ual-y" assured Hinata as she stared at her crush, they then began the practice we know as small talk, though she was happy to talk with the Blonde boy, she would much rather do it in a group, with a one on one conversation with the hyperactive boy, he wasn't very talkative, but in a group, he was the life of the party.

"So, Hinata, how is your ninja training going?" asked Naruto attempting to make some small talk, and get a decent conversation going.

"Wh-at d-o y-ou mea-n b-y th-a-t Nar-uto-kun" Could she ever escape the scrutiny of her peers, was Naruto the same as the others, was he about to ridicule her skill level.

"Like, did you learn any kick-ass moves," he said this as he punched an imaginary dummy in mid air, as if to say that what he just did was a kick-ass move.

How could she think of Naruto like that? He would never insult her, he was too nice for something like that, too happy go lucky, "We-ll Nar-u-to-kun, I ha-ve lear-ne-d the ba-sic-s of t-he gent-le f-ist s-ty-le"

"Wow! I've been trying to get Gai-san to teach me his style of fighting, he says its an opponent to the style you are learning."

"An opp-on-en-t to t-he gen-tle fi-st st-yl-e?" to say she was shocked would be an understatement, an adversary to the gentle fist style? Was it even possible? She was brought out of her questioning by the knocking at the door.

"I'll get it Kaa-san," said Naruto, as he ran over to the door to receive his party guests. their was Shikamaru, Ino, Choji, and even Sauske but what surprised Naruto was that the Hokage was there too, "Oji-san, what are you doing here shouldn't you be doing paperwork or something?"

"I reserve the right for a distraction." replied the old Hokage in a joyous manner, in truth, he was here with the Uchiha, at least that is what he told the council, they seemed to buy into it quite nicely.

"Hey Naruto, where should we put the presents" asked a Lazy pineapple boy, as he lifted up his present, curiously shaped like a simple board with a box of something on top of it.

"Over in the corner, where the orange streamers are" answered Naruto.

"Orange, why am I not surprised, you and that annoying color are worse then Shikamaru and the word 'Troublesome'" insinuated Ino, with an annoyed look on her face, which seemed to have been there when she was born.

"Don't say that! Naruto you stay true to your addiction just like I love my chips you love your colors!" as Choji finished his words of encouragement, a certain spoil sport interrupted.

"Psh, Idiots," said a certain Uchiha, though he can get away with it for now, after all, his families dead.

With the introductions gone, and the ice broken, the party began, well for ten year olds that is, there was the usual party games, pin the tail on the Hokage, annoy Naruto's mother, destroy something valuable, laugh and be loud, throw cake at someone, and everyone's favorite spill the punch bowl on top of Rin's pile of patient reports. But then came the best part, well, for Naruto at least. "Present time!" yelled an excited Naruto as he did an air dive towards the unsuspecting pile of gifts.

"Naruto, be sure to read the tags before tearing into them" Rin knew this was futile, but she had to warn him.

Naruto went through all the presents, receiving a book on how to choose ones new favorite color from Ino, she said it was a good read, to Shikamaru's obvious choice of a go board, while he said the reason why he got it for him was to sharpen his mind, the real reason was because at there household they had too many boards and he forgot to buy a gift. The last gift was from Hinata, it was finely wrapped, in only the brightest orange paper, he carefully undid the wrapping paper, being careful to save it, the color was just too magnificent to throw away. As he opened the white box, he looked inside, and found what he thought to be the Kami's ramen bowl.

Naruto was close, it was his ramen bowl, and Said Ramen bowl was a dark orange, mixed with green. But the best part, was the kanji at the bottom, it had his name, in black letters. "Beautiful" was the only word Naruto could think of, though to anyone else, it would appear tacky, But Naruto is not anyone else. Though no one else seemed to notice, but Hinata fainted from the praise her gift got, she won, and this would be the first of many victories.

The party ended, the guest began to leave, all saying their respective goodbyes, Hinata wishing to stay, but could not, but the strangest thing happened after they all left.

Naruto went to bed, he was tired, the every energetic youth, was tired, this was surely the biggest thing to happen since sliced bread. Maybe he would actually sleep in tomorrow. This was Kami's doing, she just knew it.

As two separate children, both the same age, and both the same level of catalyst crawled into there respective beds, one of them being plushy and refined, the other being hard and dirty, the both fell asleep wondering what would happen in the coming years.

**(1) Is there an easier way to do Hinata's stuttering? Seriously, its horrible,**

**Next few chapters are going to be Kasshoku centered, after all, this Fan fiction is named after him.**


	5. Chapter 5

Brown Fox

Chapter 5

Of Eye-patches and Eye-glasses

Two weeks have passed since Kasshoku's initial adventure; he had been trained under his sensei. So far he had only learned the one bow skill, though it was currently unnamed. Though his sensei said that he had made spectacular progress with the move, there was still a fatal flaw to the newly learned skill. In order to get the full effect the arrow had to be held still for five seconds. To ensure the tightest wrapping of charka possible, though the arrow could be released prior to its top piercing capacity would be greatly reduced as well.

The tightening of the charka allowed the spectral substance to stay attached to the arrow longer, and making the drill effect of the arrow much more effective as well. This move could shatter through any defense, through theory at least, there is a lot of opponents out there, and a lot of ways to defend, and even more ways to be fooled into security.

For sensei, there was no worse poison then that of pride. If you are boasting, you will soon be roasting, he would often say to himself. And he was sure to instill this into his part-time pupil Kasshoku. He had one thing left to teach him, then he would send him off to grow, but not without a sign to come back, he was still thinking of that. The ex-member of the forest was ready to teach the boy his next move, though not really offensive, would serve his purpose of further teaching methods. "Kasshoku, I have one thing to teach you, and then you're out of here"

"What? And I was just getting cozy" replied the semi-shocked student, he somewhat knew this was going to happen. It was not his duty to teach him, so he had prepared himself for this to happen. But he still had his hopes up, he liked his sensei, he seemed to be pretty cool, though a bit too serious at times for his tastes.

"Don't worry young one, you will get called back, after you complete one task," Said the sensei in a serious tone. He then cracked a smile, a devious one at that. This idea would be a perfect marker. "Tell me young one, what are your thoughts on girls?"

Being completely caught off on the subject, for being a ten year old he did not know much about the opposite sex. "Well, my Kaa-san always said to be nice to them, and to not be as rude around them," replied Kasshoku, "Oh yea, they also like to be called cute" finished the forest boy, unknowing of how lackluster his response is.

"Your sign of returning is a simple one for most people, but will be nigh impossible for you," said the sensei with a look of mischief upon his face. "Kasshoku no Kitsune, you may only return when you have gotten one of the opposite sex," continued the black member, "to give you a kiss." Now, the ex-member could have been a lot worse then that, he could have said sex, but he wanted the boy back this decade.

"What's a Kiss?" asked Kasshoku, being raised in a forest, and only coming in contact with his own species every Thursday, he knew very little of day to day interactions.

Sensei, who is usually one devoid of all anime happenings, allowed this particular one to happen. The black member fell to the ground which loud clunk, "seriously, you do not know what a kiss is?" Sensei, although being a Member of the Forest did not kiss with his version of the opposite sex, he knew what kissing was though. He had the inscription to prove it; wherever Uzumaki Kushina and Namikaze Minato were they had his ill-contempt-the lovers made a heart with there _full _name in the middle, on his backside. That day was the lowest point of his life, the damn white stuff, it didn't dry out and it felt so weird, like it was moving!

"Doesn't ring a bell" Kasshoku was honestly stumped, "Can you use it in a sentence?"

"No, but you can use it in a romance novel, or in a relationship" joked the sensei, hoping the boy would catch on to his parody.

"Relationship?" asked the brown themed child, Sensei was being confusing, usually he made a lot of sense, often times going into deep explanations and metaphors to help him understand the technique.

"A kiss is when you," thinking of a way to describe the action, without using the word itself. "It is when your lips, and the lips of a person of the opposite sex, or same sex meet(1), and in a flurry of passion, they connect,"

"Do they stay connected?" Asked Kasshoku, imagining himself permanently connected to the red headed girl he saved not too long ago.

"No Kasshoku, they do not, now, a Relationship is when a girl and a boy, or two people of the same sex, like each other very much, they spend their time together in dating mood, this is not to be confused with friendship, or teammates, though both of those can grow into a dating relationship." Taking a moment to think of a good metaphor to help with the explanation, the teacher continued. "A relationship is like a member of the forest, it starts off like a sapling, growing periodically with each change in the seasons. After many years, the relationship will blossom into a beautiful lord or lady of the forest"

"So, a relationship is when I meet up with a girl, we start off as friends, and after a bunch of years, we kiss and everything's good?" summarized Kasshoku, hoping he had hit the nail on the head.

"Yea, pretty much" the sensei hoped he was right with his answer, he had no idea either, he was just making shit up. "Well, let's begin on your last technique before I boot you out for a long time, This move, though not aggressive in nature, will end up saving butt plenty of times." Hearing the words 'save' and 'butt' in the same sentence, Kasshoku was about to go off on his sensei's kunai carved ass about clichés. But before he could retaliate to the uncreative practice his sensei ignored him and went on with his new lesson. "Pick up your bow, and one of your arrows," The now focused brown themed boy readied his bow, and awaited his Sensei's instruction.

"Channel your charka to the tail of the bow, and keep pouring it into the arrow, imagine a wire that is stringed from your fingers, to the end of the arrow." He saw the boy close his eyes, and visualize the wire connected to the bow, after a few seconds, he reopened his eyes, and awaited the next step. "Now, focus on keeping the charka attached to the tail, think of it as a system of roots, constantly keeping you, the earth, attached to the tree, the arrow." Nodding in acknowledgment and making a small adjustment to his visualization. "Now constantly add charka to the wire, making it longer as the arrow travels through the air. With all of that in mind, let it rip, and be surprised at the outcome"

The brown themed boy let the projectile loose, as his sensei had previously stated, he was shocked at the outcome. "Moss!" exclaimed the shocked child, as he saw his previously released arrow continually soar through the air, having a sturdy line of moss follow it. Kasshoku looked to his back hoping to look at his teachers proud face, only to see his sensei gone, finding only a bundle of 30 arrows. Kasshoku fell to his knees, just like his mother, no goodbye, just a feeling left with a feeling of sadness. Left from the forest, and ignorant of the city, Kasshoku had no feeling of belonging. The child had no one to stand by him. With continued gloom, the child picked up the arrows, placed them in his quiver, and left, hoping to find a friend to bring along with him.

XxXxXx- Three Days of crazy plain walking later -XxXxXx

Kasshoku did not want to admit that he was bored, the last time that happened he was thrown into the whirlpool we call drunkards who chase after little girls. So instead of saying the 'B' word, he used a euphemism of sorts. "Man, I need some activities to relieve myself of the tediousness of this walk" Spoke Kasshoku, apparently to no one around him.

He was quickly brought out of his need of activities. By a 10 year old boy, looking to be nearly double his weight, was being flung right over his head. Now Kasshoku, having no idea what the boy had done to receive this punishment of flight. He proceeded to look over in the direction of the boy's launch area

"What are you looking at?" asked a orange haired girl who seemed to be the same age he was, who seemed to have some sort of beef with every human being in the world. She was wearing a green cloth covered her left eye which wrapped around her head, she also had a pair of black rimmed eyeglasses on, presumably for her remaining right eye. "What? Are you surprised that a girl threw that lard face clear across the field?"

"No, I am surprised I still have my head on, seriously, it felt like the wind from that throw was going to decapitate me." Replied Kasshoku, the child answered correctly to his first, 'are you sexist' question. "What's your name Cutie?" asked Kasshoku, unaware of the strange fact that not all girls like compliments.

"What did you call me?" responded the surprisingly angered girl, as she used her impressive speed to close the gap between her and Kasshoku.

"Cutie," he said with a bit of fear, as he was easily lifted from the ground by his cape collar because of the one-eyed girl.

"That's what I thought," finished the angered bright haired girl, as she began to spin around the small boy in a hammer toss motion, after three mighty spins, she let him loose, and the fox learned to fly.(2)

XxXxXx- In Midair with Kasshoku –XxXxXx

"I think I prefer the other way of meeting girls." Stated Kasshoku, as he thought back to how he met the cute red headed girl. The saving was better then the flinging. He was brought out of his musings by a large hole. Which Kasshoku was currently en route to; He sighed, and then began to draw his bow, took an arrow out of his quiver, and prayed to whatever deity was listening that his moss rope technique would work. He went through the visualization. And let the arrow loose, following the instruction to let his charka stay anchored to the arrow as it flew through the air, connecting the projectile to a rock. As the arrow held its position firmly in the stone, Kasshoku grabbed onto the moss-vine, and rode it down to the wall of the hole. Making sure to twist around so his back would hit the wall and not his face, when Kasshoku's back connected to the wall, he began to shimmy up. Encouraging himself by his testament "I am going to get this girls name, even if I have to be tossed 100 more times!"

"Brown bastard, deserved to be thrown, trying to get into my good gracious, what an idiot," said the orange haired girl, as she coolly readjusted her glasses. "Bet he's somewhere crying over his scratches" said the girl, trying to push down the thought of the possibility of his death on her hands. The female juggernaut began to walk back to her uncle's house, attempting to ignore the fact that she may have killed a human being today. The orange haired girl then passed a rock, a rock she was very well aquatinted with, having seen it every-day.

Kasshoku was weighing the odds, hope that his aim has improved, and pin the girl against the rock. Or miss, and probably kill the girl he wanted to known the name of. Kasshoku was no dead-eye, but he was pretty good, he decided to go for it, aiming for the girl's lower portion of her robe, the space between her legs. He let loose an arrow, and yet again, prayed to any open deities.

"Yea, he's probably okay, I mean, only a complete wuss would die after that!" and as she finished her step, she was quickly pinned against a rock she was walking by, the one she was aquatinted with.

"Alright," started Kasshoku, about to ask the question he was going for.

"No! You are not going to rape me! You sick pervert!" replied the orange haired girl, automatically assuming the worst of her attacker.

"What's rape?" asked Kasshoku, having forgone about his previous question about name, and focusing on his new found one of the mysterious action called 'Rape'.

"Actually, I have no idea," answered the orange haired girl as she wondered about the illegal act of rape.

"Well, what's your name? That is what I came here for."

"Oshiro Hitomi, what is your name?" replied Hitomi, as she was surprised he was just here for her name.

"Kasshoku no Kitsune" said the boy, trying to squash down the pride part. He had to follow his sensei's teachings.

"Your name fits you, brown boy," Said Hitomi, "So; want to come over to my house? Or do you have to go back to your house?"

"Sure, I have no where else to be," True Kasshoku had no where to be, mostly because he had nowhere to go.

"Cool, it's around dinner time, my uncle is not the best chef, but the food isn't poisonous." Joked Hitomi, as she led the way to her home, preparing to surprise her uncle with the forest boy. Kasshoku took this time to examine the girl more closely. Hitomi was wearing a simple white robe, not meant for much other then casual wear for around the house. He could not get a glimpse of her footwear, nor the reason for her eyewear. After his 20 second investigation he followed the girl to her house, whatever a 'house' was.

XxXxXx 10 minutes of silent plain walking XxXxXx

"Were here!" loudly proclaimed Hitomi, as she walked in the house with Kasshoku by her side. The orange haired girl had no idea why she brought Kasshoku with her. Her 'gut' told her that it would be for the best.

"What do you mean 'were' Hitomi?" asked an angered voice, the child was specifically told not to bring anyone here. "You know you are not supposed to bring people here, they could be assassins"

As Kasshoku's witty banter sense went off he replied "Spoken by the mysterious man hiding behind the door holding a weapon, who seems to suspect a 10 year old boy of assassination"

"The people I am afraid of wouldn't put exploitation behind them" asked the man behind the door, trying to test the boy for his credibility. As he put the weapon down, realizing that the boy would pose little threat to him.

"What do you mean by 'People'?"

"Come on in kid, your safe" Approved the man behind the door, realizing that this kid had no marks of a trained spy. The boy hid his face, automatically putting him on the spot for suspicion. Also the boy was rather unkempt, though he was not smelly by all means, he had matted hair, and plenty of twigs in his cloak. "So, what is your name kid?" said the man with a gruff voice, as he opened the door to allow the two children in.

"Kasshoku no Kitsune" answered the 10 year old child, still having to resist the temptation of pride.

"You don't look like a small forest creature, but I'll take your word for it kit" he added the Kit for a joking reference.

Laughing a bit, Kasshoku replied with his own brand of nicknaming "Well, are you not going to invite me in Ox?" replied Kasshoku, the man was massive. He was at least 6'8, and had the look of a man that could rip you apart.

"Ah, a child with a sense of humor, albeit a very young one, comes on in you two, foods almost done."

As the three acquaintances sat down for dinner, the forest boy was running into yet another problem. As he sat down at the table, he looked around the table to see his two hosts break apart the strange sticks they had, made out of what it looked like to be Members of the Forest innards. Kasshoku was discussed by the debauchery of an honorable Member of the Forest. But he had to remember that his culture and their culture were different. Humans had no idea that there were Members of the Forest. If he remembered correctly they were referred to as 'Trees'. Though he had to suppress his urge to yell out in defense of the Members of the Forest, he knew that he had to assimilate.

To assimilate means to adapt, and Kasshoku was taking his first steps, he looked over to 'Ox' who was using the two sticks to slurp up the broth filled with noodles. Kasshoku looked at his own pair of sticks, and his own steaming hot broth. The forest boy then proceeded to break apart the chopsticks, refraining from wincing with the sound of breaking wood. He then attempted to mimic the usage of chopsticks that the two hosts were displaying. Hitomi caught on to this, seeing Kasshoku stare intently at her hands.

"Kasshoku, aren't you going to eat your Ramen? I know it's not gourmet, but it will not kill you if you eat it." Questioned Hitomi, the girl was curious of the boy.

"Yea kit, are you not going to eat my manly cooking? It's made with only the manliest of ingredients, labored over the manliest stove imaginable, with the manliest flame." Pausing a second to notice the boy's confusion, something dawned to him. "Kit, where are you from?"

Having no reason to lie to the 'Ox' he decided to tell the truth, "Konoha's Forest, more specifically, the Forest of Death" The name was given to the mass of trees due to the military training given there, the fact that Konoha decided to call it the same thing, is just a coincidence.

"You are from Konoha's forest, I thought the name was because of stupid parents, but now I am questioning your credibility. How the hell can a child live in the forest?"

Telling the truth, once more, Kasshoku answered, "I was raised by a kind lady; she lived in the forest, though I have never gotten her name"

"Kit, I like you, so I am going to believe this most likely to be bullshit story, and take it at face value" finished 'Ox', then, realizing this, an idea popped into his head, along with another question. "Kit, how long have you been traveling alone?"

"About a month, I have been living off herbs and the local wildlife for food, in fact I have been living off herbs and rabbit my entire life."

Amazed by the fact that this kid, who had not only lived a month on nothing but herbs and rabbits, but had prospered, and looked to be a healthy child. This survival training would help him fend for himself and Hitomi, and make it harder for her family to find her. This would not only make his life easier. He would no longer have to look after this child, though he was by no means heartless, he was also no caretaker. "Kasshoku can I ask you something of you?"

"My permission has not stopped you before, go on."

"Would you take care of Hitomi? She has people after her, these people would stop at nothing to capture her, and force to do things no one should do. If you take Hitomi with you, you can keep her moving, and keep her under the radar." Hitomi was shocked by her uncle asking someone who he had no idea about, to take care of her? The boy was wild, crazy, unkempt, and to top it all of unattractive.

"Nope," surprising both 'Ox' and Hitomi. Ox was shocked because any bright eyed boy would not pass up a chance to play 'Knight in Shining armor' and Hitomi was shocked because she planned on throwing a fit about how much this was stupid. "I don't take care of people, if someone wants to come with me, they have to be able to take care of themselves, or at least help me with the 'taking care'. The forest gives the fruits to be picked; it does not pick them for you."

"Smart, and a very manly proverb, but, alas, I can not take no for an answer, she will be going with you, but as you said, she will have the knowledge to take care of herself. Congratulations Kit, you now have a traveling companion." After Ox's forced companionship of Kasshoku and Hitomi, the time after words was rather awkward, Hitomi was not prepared to be anything more then passing acquaintances with the boy, and Kasshoku didn't know how to react to what was happening. He had wanted a friend to stick by him, but he had never though he would be forced to have one.

"So, Hitomi, what is your favorite color?" asked Kasshoku, he did not like this silence, or the angry glares he was getting from his new found 'friend'.

"That is the dumbest question I have ever heard." Insulted Hitomi, she hated this guy, he was so weird.

"Wow, that's interesting, I never knew there was a ranking system of dumb questions" Kasshoku said with sarcasm dripping from every word, Kasshoku was not too happy about this either, when he thought of a traveling companion, he had thought of someone to talk to and to join him on adventures. Not this girl who deemed it upon herself to destroy every bit of his self-esteem.

"Like you would know anything, growing up in the forest of all things"

"Hey, at least I didn't grow up among farm animals"

"What is that supposed to mean?" Hitomi was getting angry, how the hell does this boy know anything about her family.

"It is supposed to mean that your caretaker is a freaking giant, seriously,"

"It had better mean that, or else"

"Finish your sentence," said Kasshoku, making sure the mockery was evident.

"I will destroy you!" threatened Hitomi, currently being angered by Kasshoku's continual rebuttal of her insults.

"Both of you go to bed! And stop complaining, it will be fun, being two kids walking the countries." Said Ox, from his bedroom, which was across the hallway.

"Goodnight" said Kasshoku, with surprisingly no ill-content, he liked bickering with people, it was like a game with him, having to choose his words wisely in order to win.

"Goodnight, Forest boy" said Hitomi, trying to show her anger, but failing, due to the fact she was tired, and the boy had outwitted her. Ox was right; this would be fun, well, fun by the meaning of 'not boring'.

As the two new traveling companions went to sleep, another woke up, this one, being more of the sinister aura. The figure got up from its lush prison, it got up and stretched it's arms. The figure, still being covered by the dark of the dark forest, opened its eye, to reveal one piercing yellow eye. It had one thought, 'How can I use this to my advantage'.

**(1) Im not here to judge**

**(2) this is not comical, and she threw him roughly 200 feet, **

**-The old Yankee**


	6. Chapter 6

Brown Fox

Chapter Six

Odd One Out With Two Eyes

Kasshoku had one major flaw in his otherwise infallible 'humor'. What to do when it comes to the opposite sex, or more precisely, the opposite sex of the same age. The forest boy was currently resisting the temptation to explode on the girl. The girl was Hitomi, his newly forced traveling companion. Though the reason for not insulting the girl straight out was not simply just the opposite sex conundrum. Hitomi was in a similar situation as him.

Kasshoku was abandoned, no; he would never be abandoned by his loving mother, especially for such a trivial reason as race. His mother loved him very much; his proof was from all the times she spoke to him lovingly. All of the caring words from his mother, they could not have been all lies, Right? He violently shook his head, as if to jumble the sour thoughts in his head, his mother did only what was in his best interest.

Hitomi was probably having the same thoughts as him, but she did not have the comforting reassurance of her relative. Though at first glance 'Ox' looked nice, one could never tell what happened behind the pleasant facades of first impressions. After all, he was rather quick to push Hitomi on him, and on top of that he had forgone his niece's feelings.

"You hungry Hitomi?" Kasshoku and his new found acquaintance were traveling along an unmarked road. The two of them had already finished there exciting trek through the plains. And if it was up to him to guess, and it is, he would say they were at the rim of the land controlled by the Stone Shinobi.

Hitomi heard her stomach grumble in protest, "Guess" replied Hitomi. The Orange haired girl had a mixture of feelings running through her. Most of them she could not accurately pin down with her vocabulary. She wanted to strangle Kasshoku, but she also wanted to hug him. And if that is not confusing enough, she wanted to kill herself. Her mother had exiled her, and then for reasons unknown order a hit on her, her uncle had protected her, only to send her away with a complete stranger. Kasshoku, the stranger she spoke of, was nice to her, though it seemed more out of pity then out of the bottom of his heart.

"Alright, let's go look for something, if I remember right there is an abundance of small game in these parts." Kasshoku looked at the saddened emotions on his companion's face. He had no idea how to deal with the sorrows of others, he had no sorrow himself, everything was perfect in his life. So he decided to come out and just ask, it could not hurt could it? "What's wrong Hitomi?" asked Kasshoku, in an almost demanding tone. The 10 year old boy had little knowledge of emotional tone.

"Nothing" responded Hitomi, trying to sound as tough as possible.

Though Kasshoku had little knowledge of tone in the real world, he did have a slight amount. Nee-san did the same thing when she was upset; she would use a 'tough as bark' tone. "Doubt that, the look of sadness is evident on your face."

"What do you mean 'Look of sadness'? I am as happy as can be, it's just a smile a mile over here!" she stated, growing louder with every phrase. "I mean, why should I not be happy, just look at my predicament, my mother gouged my eye out, and then exiled me, and if that wasn't enjoyable enough, she ordered a hit on me, and just when I felt safe under the protection of my uncle, I was shoved out and paired up with a strange boy named brown. My life has just been a party of fucking fun!" Hitomi finished with a flushed face.

Kasshoku smiled, though the smile was unrecognizable under his mask, since it was a small one. Hitomi had spoken her emotions, and voiced her troubled past. "Let's see if we can make your life from here on out better. Today is a new day for you; you can start out new."

Hitomi laughed, her face was still red from her rant on family, but Kasshoku was right, why not try to make her life better from now on? Moving on from the sad subject Hitomi was still hungry, but this time Kasshoku heard the rumble. At the same moment Kasshoku spotted his prey, and going through the same silencing motions he went through each time, he let his wooden arrow fly, striking the small game. "How did you do stop the sound?"

"I just suffocate my bow using chakra, and in doing so traps in the sound waves, Thus making the twang of the bow string null." Explained Kasshoku, "It took me half a year to be able to use it that easily, and I am still trying to do it subconsciously"

"Subconsciously?" asked Hitomi, the annoying thing about Kasshoku, is that he tended to use big words, though she was by no means stupid, Kasshoku was just too damn smart.

"Basically without thinking about it, like breathing, you do it, but you never think about it to do the action." Kasshoku liked explaining things, it made him feel smart, but then he remembered his sensei's lectures of pride, he thought if pride in teaching is one thing he should avoid. The rest of the night was spent roasting the animal over a fallen log. Kasshoku would never use a living tree as firewood.

Kasshoku and Hitomi feel into a deep sleep, though the female of the duo had a peaceful slumber. The male had a much more eventual respite. "Kasshoku no Kitsune, you are an interesting one." Said a figure with one yellow eye, it's left eye to be more precise.

"Kyuubi no Kitsune, you are an interesting one" mocked Kasshoku, he was guessing, and he hopped the arrow he shot in the dark had hit its target.

"Ouch!" yelped the female fox in Kasshoku's mind, as his metaphor became reality in his damp mind. "Can't a nine thousand year old fox be menacing?"

"Sorry, apparently all of my thoughts become true in my dreams" the Kyuubi no Kitsune was dressed plainly, wearing nothing extravagant or anything with any amount of sex appeal. She had a strand of hair, thick enough to completely eclipse her right eye, acting like some kind of eye patch the rest of her hair was straightened down to her shoulders.

"Oh, then am I apart of your dreams?" asked Kyuubi, with a whole lot of awkwardness, she couldn't do this; the portion of her soul that could pull this off was in the other kid.

"I guess so; you are not going to start talking to me continually are you? Like when I am awake, because that would be some sort of schizophrenia."

"Schizophrenia? Your Kaa-san taught you psychological disorders? I thought it was just survival techniques!" said the surprised fox, she had glanced into his memories when she was awoken, and he was definitely an interesting one, one that could be used to her advantage.

"No, Nee-san liked to call me it, really unwarranted." Stated Kasshoku, "So, do you like my mind?"

"No, I do not like my prison, if you,"

"No,"

"I have not even asked you to do anything!" argued the Kyuubi.

"Then go ahead and ask, just do not expect me to touch that seal"

"Make it nicer"

"Define "it"" retorted Kasshoku; she was making demands from the wrong side of the bars.

"The Prison"

"Give me a reason to do so and I will"

"I will make you a demon"

"I like girls"

"What does that have to do with anything?"

"Girls do not like Demons"

"How is one that has so little knowledge of women know what they prefer?"

"Because Konoha is filled with women, and you were imprisoned for attacking Konoha, so therefore, women do not like demons." Even though Socrates does not exist, Kasshoku just pulled off logic.

"And you think my attack was unwarranted?"

"I was not saying that, I was just saying that females do not like demons."

"There was a good reason for it"

"I am sure there was"

"Do you not want to hear it?"

'I would love to, but I have to wake up now, have a good day Kyuubi."

Kasshoku woke up with a smile on his face; he would allow himself a drink of pride after that battle of wits. He then got up, woke up his companion, finished off the meal from last night, and walked towards the nearest town.

The Kyuubi, sharing a similar drink as Kasshoku, but dwelling deeper into the cup, taking much joy in the poisonous drink, she would get her freedom only. She would only need patience now.

Hitomi was ecstatic, after last nights yell, and Kasshoku's simple advice she felt as if though she had begun anew. The town the came upon quickly revealed itself to be a small city, this was bad news for Kasshoku.

But great news for Hitomi, Hitomi had a time honored way of releasing stress. Window shopping, as soon as they had reached the market district she broke the sound barrier as she jumped from shop to shop looking at all of the beautiful dresses and outfits. "Kasshoku! Isn't that dress pretty" repeatedly commented Hitomi as she dragged Kasshoku from window to window.

"Yes it is Hitomi" said Kasshoku, he was lying, and he sucked at lying, but thankfully to him. Hitomi could have cared less about his real opinion; he was just there to be a silent observer.

But Kasshoku found something that his own opinion mattered; the forest boy looked into the polished window of a casual wear shop. He saw a boy, being of the same age as him, through his estimation. But what perplexed the forest boy, was that after a second of eye contact, he disappeared. Though that was not the end of Kasshoku's puzzlement, the mysterious boy was trying to move his cloak.

Kasshoku acting on pure instinct, whipped his fist back hitting the boy in the fast, and toppling him over. This action alerting Hitomi, sparked her rage. "Why did you do that Kasshoku?"

"Well, he was about to"

"About to do what? Looking at these nice dresses?"

"No, pick pocket me, he tried to move my cloak"

"He did not; I did not see him make for your pocket, I saw him walk up beside you and stare at the dress, far enough away to have no chance of pick-pocketing you."

"If he was over there, no were near me, how did he end up behind me?"

Hitomi, accepting Kasshoku's explanation, quickly redirected her anger towards the would-be thief. Her anger dissolved when she looked at the boy, he was, for lack of a better word.

Interesting, the pickpocket was dressed with high class equipment, he had a dark blue jumpsuit, like the ones chunnins would wear under there vests, along with his attire, he had a white scarf draped around his neck. The most interesting thing the boy was wearing was located upon his face, his right eye was covered, but not by the usual bandanna or eye patch. He had a cloth mask on, that wrapped around his head only revealing his yellow colored left eye, and a half of his raven colored hair.

"How the hell did you see through my illusion?" the unnamed boy asked, pointing towards Kasshoku.

"You lifted my cloak to get into my back pocket, which unfortunately for you has nothing in it."

"Damn" Swore the would-be thief, "please don't report me ill do anything!"

"Report?" Kasshoku had no idea what that meant, he knew only one definition of that word, and he was rather sure he was not speaking of a loud explosion.

"Yea, to the officers,"

"Now why would we do that?" He assumed he was using 'Report' as slang, and was trying to attempt him to destroy the judicial system here.

"Because I just tried to steal from you" the wannabe bandit was getting worried now, was this boy crazy? Was he going to die for committing his first petty crime? Was he really going down before he got his first kiss? Was he really going to die by the hands of one who's dressed so strangely?

Before Kasshoku could voice his confusion, Hitomi stepped up to continue the conversation. "Give us one reason not to just report you."

The boy was panicking; he really did suck at Genjutsu, to be caught by two people who look like they had no experience as ninjas. "I can help you in your travels!" He was just quoting some of his favorite movies now; maybe his knowledge of pop culture would save his ass.

"How?" Questioned Hitomi, she figured that they would need a third person sooner or later. Mostly because she did not want to be traveling alone with Kasshoku, even though she had told Kasshoku get story, she still did not completely trust the boy.

"I could carry you're stuff!" Pausing for a second while he though of another service he could offer, "And I could navigate you around the land"

"You're in" stated Kasshoku; the navigating part was his key to the entrance. The forest boy only had a rough idea about where the territories were all of his success so far was by luck.

"Really?"

"Tell us your name and it is solidified."

"Juro" (1)

"Alright Juro, lets get moving, tell us where the next town is." A simple question for most, but Kasshoku, who is not included within the 'most' people generalization. Truly did not know where the next town was.

"Just follow the road." Simply stated the Genjutsu novice, he should back out right now, just run away, take the night in jail and avoid these two. But he should be at home right now, so why not ignore his gut instinct once more?

"Oh, and by the way, I am Kasshoku no Kitsune, and this is"

"Oshiro Hitomi"

"Nice to meet the two of you" every fiber of Juro's body was telling him not to do this, but somehow he could not resist the urge to travel with this group of strangers.

With the awkward meeting of the third member over with, the trio of ten year olds began their journey; the three of them will battle many things, and win many victories, and suffer many losses.

**(1) Means the tenth child**

**-The old Yankee**


	7. Chapter 7

Kasshoku no Kitsune

Chapter 7

How to stumble Upon Adventure

Juro walked besides his new partners with a certain amount of melancholy, he dragged his feet at every moment, and whenever possible took a break, he did this to collect his thoughts, why did he join these people? Why was he not at his home? Where were his riches? Juro came from a rich prominent family of independent Ninjas, at least, that is what he thought.

Juro was currently in this predicament due to his family disowning him, for reasons unknown to him, he woke up one day, same as any day, ran down the stairs smelling the fresh eggs of breakfast, only to be cut off by two giant guards, he had yet to do any real fighting, just genjutsu Practice. These guards with no explanation grabbed both of his arms, and tossed him out of the house-and with hardly a pause- shut the door with a loud slam. He attempted to bang on the door, or to break back in and apologize for whatever he did. But each time his Grandfather would catch him and toss him back out. With a heavy heart he walked away, with the image of the two guards burned into his mind.

Hitomi was getting rather frustrated; she had taken notice of Juro's dragging feet, though Kasshoku foreseeing the inevitable yelling match, made sure to have a meal ready. One should never argue with an empty stomach, sometimes a herb battered rabbit could solve some ones problems.

"Move faster you lazed boy!" yelled Hitomi, staring at Juro hoping her command with have an impact.

"Shut it! Yo-"

"No Clichés!" interrupted Kasshoku, foreseeing the repetitive line of 'You have no Idea what I have been through'. "Lets eat, we can talk about your problems over some food", finished the Brown Boy.

Juro being taken aback by Kasshoku's sudden interruption, and then the offering of food, he pulled up some logs to sit on, for everyone, and when the fire was made, he began. "It was about a month ago, the night was dark, I woke up during a nightmare, foretelling the death of my family if I did not leave, so I ran, in order to sacrifice my own well being for my Kin." He paused to look at his partners; they seemed to be buying it. "I have been living on scraps ever since, well, in till you two came along".

Kasshoku thought about Juro's story, though he believed him, he still smelt the rotten roots, he was dragging his feet, as if he was hurt, granted emotionally, but still hurt. But the story he gave sounded more heroic then anything else. And it would be a strange occurrence for one to be emotionally damaged by doing the 'Heroic' thing. Maybe he was really missing his family? Who was he to judge, he had no idea about having to leave someone.

"Well, I was exiled, if that makes you feel any better, my mother thought of me as a threat, and kicked me out." comforted Hitomi; hopefully her concession would help him.

Shocked by the Statement, Juro smiled, though he would never tell them the truth, he still gave his thanks. With the fake story told, he laid down, though he had trouble falling sleep.

Next morning, which Kasshoku greeted with a yawn and a stretch, the brown boy woke up his companions, and had them get back on the path to wherever. Then Hitomi asked the question Kasshoku had no answer for.

"Where are we Going?" questioned Hitomi, "Or do you have no idea?" interrogated the Orange Haired girl.

"Juro's in charge of the navigation, he knows this area better, so Juro, where are we going?"

Looking at the map he packed with him, Juro found their destination "A small, oddly unmarked town is about two miles from here, it looks like the best place to acquire some money, doing various odd-jobs."

"Are there any other towns around?" asked Kasshoku, Juro replied with a negative nod of the head. "Is their something wrong with your head?" asked Kasshoku, with the innocence of the Forest."

Juro, taking the question as an insult, "Look at the map", shoving the map in Kasshoku's face "Look! There is no other town in this area, my head is entirely fine!"

Perplexed by his anger, Kasshoku decided to not bring up his wobbling head again; figured it must be something that he was sensitive about.

XxXxXxXxXx The Town XxXxXxXx

The small oddly unmarked town was brimming with activity, the smiths were banging on the anvils, the carpenters were building houses, and diggers were creating ditches. The three children walked cautiously into this breathing construction site.

Hitomi was the first to speak "I think you may need a new map here soon, because this town will not be small for long"

As the orange girls attempt at humor fell short of funny, three ninjas jumped down, and grabbed our pint-sized adventures. Then took off for a tunnel that burrowed into the earth. The three of them were thrown into a room, with clothes with of all sizes, and a headband with what Hitomi said was.

"A Note" all three of them decided to go along with it, and put on the gray clothes provided and decided to just carry the headbands.

Walking through the corridors the Brown Child found quite a few children ranging from much older, to surprisingly enough, much younger, as old as five for some cases. Kasshoku himself seemed to stick out with his rather messy hair, paired with his brown dirt stained mask. The ninjas for a reason unknown did not disarm him or any of his friends, Juro had some spare throwing starts, and Hitomi had a single knife.

Though his thoughts were interrupted by a voice, not any voice though one reminiscent of a ghastly ghoul. "Hello- who are you, and where are your headbands" was the question of a rather angry looking chunnin, being of a rough age of 15, and as pale as a ghost.

"Sorry-sir, we have no idea what is going on, we were just picked up when we walked into the village, and dropped off in a room, if you could tell us where we are I would be grateful." asked Hitomi, trying to be as polite as possible.

The chunnin investigated the three, looking at Kasshoku's bow, Juro's exposed eye, and Hitomi's calloused hands. You three look like three children playing ninja, not even bothering to hide your individual abilities.

Kasshoku responding to the man's thinly veiled insult, "Well, that's great! Since we are not ninjas, and we are children, so that fits rather spectacularly."

"Your wit has been noted child, come along with me, you will be introduced into the force, and will be trained"

The three of them were shocked, two of them senseless, they were being conscripted against their will., they followed the instructor each of them looking at each other with sly looks which spoke' escape' in every language. Though Kasshoku had a plan-one a bit more complex then just a stare and fast feet, he motioned them to stick with them and they will talk about the plan tonight.

The instructor showed them the door to what would be their first adventure. The three of them looked around, and found themselves an interesting group of people, as he scanned the room without any serious intent, he found something that shocked him.

"Hey! It is the Red-head-Cutie!" noticed Kasshoku, happy that a familiar face was here, and oddly enough, she had one of his arrow heads wrapped around her neck. He assumed this was the girl he had "Saved" due to the scar across her forehead.

Tayuya was shocked and angry, and confused, and a bunch of other descriptive emotional words. The idiot was here? She was happy with him being a ghost in her life, a small happy thought about being saved-the only one she would allow herself-but now the most likely stupid archer was here to destroy that. With two other people, both with an eye covered? Did they run with scissors? Though there was a tinge of a smile, he was about the only person she knew here, and he did call her cute, that was nice. "You're that Kasshoku no Kitsune kid from the village-how were you able to find me."

"Well, my and my friends here were just following the path and came across this quaint little town." pausing for a second, for humorous effect, "Then were abducted and thrown in here, so I guess our skill at mishap got us here."

Tayuya smiled a bit, "yea, you do suck, don't you?"

Not expecting such words from the Red-headed-Cutie, he was nonetheless use to it. "I never got your name"

"Neither did I, or Juro over here" interrupted Hitomi, she was eager to meet another girl; she was getting rather annoyed with the Y-Chromosome fest. "Oh, im Oshiro Hitomi by the way"

"Tayuya, so did you guys choose to join this grand nation as well?"

"Nope, we were conscripted, he was not joking about the Abduction part," answered Juro.

Tayuya jumped a bit at the realization "Are you serious? I thought this was a volunteer force, oh well, fate lead you to be apart of this great nation."

Kasshoku was surprised at her devotion, the brown fox decided against having her come with him, she seemed happy and content here, she looked well feed and well taken care of, and above all this gave her a purpose. Unfortunately, this would not step him from leaving with his friends, while taking some supplies at the same time.

"Class!" yelled the pale chunnin, with his voice of death, "We have threw new students-come forward and introduce yourself." The pint-sized adventures looked at each other, then Hitomi walked forward, after Kasshoku and Juro followed.

"I am Oshiro Hitomi,"

"That's fine and dandy, but what's your fighting skill, and what are you here for?"

"Well, I fight with grapples and throws, the holds flow around the opponents punches and kicks, and uses their momentum to increase the throwing distance." She saw the class-they were interested-"I am here because-" she looked at the instructor who knew the truth but stared daggers at her. "I wish to get back at my vile mother"

The class laughed at her reason-which hurt her ego-especially because she was serious.

"Im Kasshoku no Kitsune, I am a long-range fighter specializing in bow techniques." figuring the same thing as Hitomi he came up with his own reason-which was also true. "To gather the skills to protect the forest!" Hitomi sighed; Kasshoku was so weird when it came to trees- Tayuya was perplexed-she was wondering why the arrows she had been wooden tipped, the statement explained a bit.

"I am Juro" he paused a bit to come up with his reason, "I am a genjutsu user, using my families eye to weave perceived reality-the eye can also be used to change what an entire room sees and feels" The class gasped- that was the greatest skill of the three "I am here to protect my family" with that the three went back to their seats and sat down and listen to the teacher speak.

After the class, Kasshoku, Hitomi, and Juro all went to their room, the chunnin was nice enough to put them all in the same room, Juro and Hitomi checked for surveillance- and after there search was finished, they found nothing, Kasshoku gave them the plan.


	8. Chapter 8

Brown Fox

Chapter 8

A Gang composed of Children

The streets were quiet as if the town in the daytime did not even exist there was hardly a stir from any house, even the stray animals lay at rest; however, even with the serenity that the town displayed. Three masked children ran through the streets trying their hardest to silence the click-clack of their dangling spray cans. The masked children each had a distinguishing trait-one had hair that was damp with sap and skewed with twigs, another had only a single yellow eye visible, and the final child had a unique hair color.

The mysterious children ran through the streets surveying the buildings they say. Looking for the perfect 'tag', the yellow eyed child stopped suddenly which caused the other two to take notice of what the boy was looking at- the ragged hair child looked puzzlingly at his partner, he then broke the silence.

"Juro, explain to me why we are doing this."

"Kasshoku-your plan-if done solely by itself would have us running from the sound for the rest of our natural lives-this, along with the ideas that Hitomi came up with, will allow us to live without fear."

Hitomi, whom tried her best to tone down her vibrant orange colored hair, shushed her two partners, the three children climbed up to their 'tag' mark, one of the most heated debates over the plan is what their sign would be, whether it would be cute, she thought it should be cute, or whether it should be 'manly'. Juro is an idiot; Kasshoku himself just wanted it to have something to do with trees. She looked at the piece of paper the final design was drawn on, she had to stifle her laugh, the design itself was hilarious on an entirely new level.

The design was centered on an imposing tree, with roots as thick as a man's arm. Surrounding the tree were two guards, dressed in heavy black armor- these were Juro's idea, personally, she thought they were a bit out of place, why would two burly men be guarding a tree? And finally, flying over the mismatched pair, was a winged Ox, this artistic masterpiece brought sense to the entire 'tag'. The stupid boys thought that it would not make any sense, luckily for her, she was the only one who had enough artistic skill to drawn the outline of the tag, if she did not like it, she would not paint it, Kasshoku and Juro would just fill the lines in with their spray paint.

Hitomi started to draw the shape of the tag, while Kasshoku and Juro would do the color, they would only need to do this once, and of course, they would need to sign it with their imaginary gang's name.

The Misinterpreted

The next morning, the trio of children walked to their own crime scene, only to find a crowd of hundreds staring at their piece of artwork. Whispers of possible criminals fired without cease around the crowd, Juro smiled his idea had worked; now, they just had to appear to the public as outstanding children. His plan was done, now Hitomi's was up, her plan was would take a lot more work, and even more time to come to fruition.

The three children walked into their second day of class, they were tired from last night, but in order for Hitomi's plan to work, they would have to not appear in the slightest way to be exhausted. Tayuya was their in her usual spot, which resided right behind Kasshoku, the red headed girl approached the messy boy and asked the question she had been meaning to ask since they first meant.

"Hey Kasshoku," she said with no small amount of awkwardness, "Do you ever shower?"

"I bathe in the river usually; river water never takes care of sap, though it does keep me smelling forest fresh." His mother, though she did not mind the scruffiness of the boy, would die before he would smell anything less then perfect.

"You're an idiot, you know that? I can't believe you bathe in the river, you know animals pee in there!"

"That's why you look up stream; if the river is at a decent speed the urine would spread out enough to not have any negative effect on smell or personal hygiene."

Tayuya grunted, she then spun around and sat back at her seat, Kasshoku then followed suit and sat in his designated spot in front of her. "So Kasshoku, did you hear about the graffiti on Orochimaru-sama's billboard? I can not wait to see who gets killed for doing this," she smirked an evil smirk, "Orochimaru-sama is infamous for his demand for respect, he has been known to chop off arms for forgetting to bow when he walked into a room, I have a feeling that the punishment for this crime will be bigger then any amputation."

Kasshoku was just a bit nervous, he knew he was not under suspicion; Hitomi's plan would alleviate any scrutiny that the three may come under, though he could not help but find himself imaging the pain of death that might be unleashed upon him if he messed up. "You think he is going to hang the criminals, or execute them?"

Tayuya's eyes sparkled, she dreamt day and night about her first kill, all the pain and agony she would bestow upon her unlucky first victim, she spent most of her free time in the library studying the nervous system and trying to discover the most pain invoking way to die. "Kasshoku, the pain will be much more extensive then just a simple death, the pain will be more then burning, even more then excruciating, it will be like…like..." she trailed off, attempting to find an appropriate analogy.

Kasshoku, noticing her struggle to finish her statement aided the girl with his vocabulary. "Like a thousand incinerating deaths?"

"Yea! Exactly like that!" Class began as soon as the conversation ended, the pale gravely chunnin started the class off with a course overview-passing copies of a sheet of paper around the classroom, the paper had a bulleted list of all the class work, all the tools would be provided to them, due to the majority of orphans in the class. The rest of the morning went by smoothly, lunch came around, and then the chaos began. Part of Hitomi's plan was to spread out and make friends with as many peoples as possible. To make it less suspicious when they leave, the three of them looked around the lunch room, all of them feeling the awkwardness of the situation slowly seeping underneath their skin. Finally Juro took the initiative and sat down at a table by himself. Kasshoku and Hitomi soon followed suit, each one sitting at their own table, hoping to get a few people to sit next to them.

Hitomi was quietly eating her lunch, passively slurping her noodles; however, this bit of peace came to a halt, when a large boy, whose weight seem to be equal to her plus the weight of her two partners. Walked up to her table and stared at her with indifference.

"Girls should not eat alone" with that being stated, he dropped his plate, which appeared to have at least three different lunches on it. "My name is Jirobo."

"Oshiro Hitomi, it's a pleasure to meet you," pausing a second to politely size up the large boy, she quickly found a conversation topic. "I bet you're pretty good at Taijutsu, from that impressive size of yours."

The big boy appeared confused, he did not like being called fat-but he did enjoy being complimented about his fighting skill. "I am good at Taijutsu…I presume you are good at Genjutsu"

Hitomi snapped-she knew that he assumed Genjutsu because she was a woman! "What makes you say that chump?"

Jirobo flinched, the sudden break in the conversation flow was unexpected, "Because of your eye patch there is a famous Ninja, his name is Hatake Kakashi, and he also wears a patch like you."

"Right answer…so Jirobo, what is your story" questioned Hitomi to the flinching boy.

Jirobo flinched again, from forced small talk, to anger, to a natural interest in him, this girl was unpredictable. "I am not going to talk about my past to a stranger."

Remembering her plan, she decided to take do something that made her feel more open. "Well then" Began Hitomi "lets be friends".

Jirobo was taken back, he has talked to a lot of people, heard a lot of different opinions, experienced a lot of weird people in his 11 years of life, but this was the strangest conversation he has ever had, and in a weird way, it was refreshing, and slightly scary, but mostly refreshing.

Juro was almost finished with his meal, when a pale boy with oddly enough, another pale boy on his back, without any hesitation, slapped him in the back of the head smashing his head into his mostly empty bowl of rice.

"Money-now" with that Juro gave him the money, and the boy walked on; however Juro smiled, all he got was his own garbage.

Kasshoku just sat down, he was about to take the first bite out of his mystery meat, when he was rudely pulled out of his seat and dragged over to Tayuya's table. There was one other boy there, though unlike most children this one had four extra arms. Tayuya then began her forceful introduction.

"Kidomaru-Kasshoku, Kasshoku-Kidomaru"

Kasshoku decided to just go with the wind, and attempted to start conservation; however, he was beat to the punch, or should he say, the bow.

"You are an archer!" Kidomaru spoke excitedly, "What kind of bow do you use?"

"Oh, just your basic bow, I am after all only 10 years old. I can't use anything over four feet, how about you Kidomaru?"

Kidomaru began spitting out a weird yellow substance, and molding it in his hands to make it into the body of the bow. He used a thinner piece of his spit to create the string. "six feet, and its chakra controlled, it acts just liked transferring chakra to a limb, the more chakra I put into it, the more powerful it becomes."

Kasshoku let out an impressive whistle, "Wow, sure beats the heck out of my bow, so Tayuya, what are your skills?"

"ughh, I don't quite have any yet…I don't have any prior training like you guys."

Kasshoku smiled, "Lucky you"

Tayuya was shocked, how was being entirely inexperience, in any such form 'Lucky? "What the heck are you talking about?"

"The best students no absolutely nothing about the subject at hand, me and Kidomaru, we both have training that has been drilled into us about how to be archers, but you-you can be whatever you want to be."

Tayuya had to admit, he was right, they were stuck with their puny bows-she could be anything, she could be a Taijutsu specialist, a Ninjutsu specialist, and even a Genjutsu master, or even better, a combination of all three, she could be the strongest in the world. "Ha! Sucks to be you guys, I am outta here! Big things to do! No time for little archers!"

Kidomaru looked at Kasshoku, and then at Tayuya, and then back at the Brown themed boy, then they both laughed. The Boys laughter was interrupted by Juro running frantically bye, closely followed by an angry pale boy, whom had another boy stuck out of his back. If he heard right, the pale boy was screaming 'Genjutsu using asshole'.

After lunch the trio met up with each other, and only Juro didn't come back with a friend, more like an enemy. But overall the day was considered a success; they spent the rest of the day listening in class, learning about various ninjutsu counters, along with all the uses of a fire jutsu. But the ending statement caught the trio's attention the most.

"Practice matches tomorrow class, do not be late."


	9. Chapter 9

Brown Fox

Chapter 9

A Taste of the Future-Plan's revealed

In the trio's room, a sense of tension flowed throughout the children, the three of them never had any experience fighting in a fair fight, Kasshoku's experience against people was shooting a Drunk Man in the back of the leg. Hitomi would through boys-fat boys at that-but they had no real experience. Juro was thinking about his experience, he had never truly fought one on one with anyone. His skill with Genjutsu was more about tricking people then truly hurting anybody.

Kasshoku sighed; his Kaa-san warned him that he would have to fight in this backwards world. Though he was hoping it would all be justified, like that one drunk he shot in the leg. Though, was that truly justified? Yes he did in fact attack a little, cute, girl; however, Tayuya did steal from the man…and that injury would not heal quickly, he would be out of a job for months. His family would have to resort to stealing for food. Though, he shivered at the thought of what might happen, Tayuya was already a bit whack, the drunk could of left more then a scar, if he was left unchecked the cute red head, might of become the cold-angry red head. That in itself is not bad, if she came to it by her own decision, but when forced upon her by a negative atmosphere. There is no good in that.

Kasshoku was still unsure about whether that one fight created more positive outcomes, then negative. He thought deeper into the subject, wondering what brought the man to drink, was it a daughter lost, was it a loan cost, or even a supreme frost, that kills all crops? Kasshoku had no idea-he just knew that judgment should not be passed quickly on a single being.

"So" started Hitomi, "What's the plan?"

The trio thought about that, what was the answer to Hitomi's question? Should they aim for the win-attracting more attention to themselves? Or lose, possibly losing the respect from the friends and becoming more suspicious for when they leave.

"I think we win-but do it in a hard fought way." Said Hitomi, answering her own question-it would allow them to keep the respect while keeping the attention to a minimum.

"No-the public loves an underdog-it's either win, or lose" Juro knew his cinema, and if is their something more inspiring then an underdog-he would like to know.

"Well, we are trying to keep up the appearance of being good Samaritans, plus we are in a ninja class, and if I am not mistaken the ninjas fight to win." Suggested Kasshoku, he did not enjoy the idea of a ninja, raised from a young age to be a killer, through propaganda and fake toys. His mother once told him all about the idealism centered on the killers. The heroes and heroines they praise, through cards, action figures, and T.V. shows. Though he may have to become one-for one day the ninjas might attack the forest, and he could not fight the killers with only his bow.

"Well, the problem is when we kidnap ourselves if we are the number one students then the search for us would be much more intense. They would not rest in till they found all of our "Gang" and slaughtered them entirely."

"Well, the only way to be the best is to beat the best, that's what my uncle would always say. So, as long as we do not face the top ox, we will never be at the top." Hitomi's logic was sound, as long as they did not face the top dog, the trio hit their beds early, they would need all of the rest for tomorrows duels.

The next morning, the three children went off to battle, they arrived only to see their new friends from yesterday-and their fellow classmates stand around a large circular stone. Though instead of the Chunnin who usually taught the class was gone, the emcee of the duels was none other then the leader of the sprouting village, Orochimaru-sama. The trio ran together and found a snug spot between two other groups of people. But as soon as the three got to the stone, they were shocked to hear their names spoken so quickly, and in unison.

"Kasshoku no Kitsune, Juro, and Oshiro Hitomi, please step up into the ring" a bit frightened by the sudden call up, the climbed up and walked to the center, as a group.

Orochimaru was intelligent, he knew these were the vandals, and he knew every detail of their escape plan; however, he was not angry in the slightest, in fact he was pleased that they were running away, and with such a unique plan. He knew about their self kidnapping scheme, create panic with a new "gang" then have the "gang" steal them away and if they were small enough to be unnoticed no one would bother to pay the ransom. It was brilliant, except for two things; they skipped over a single corner of a room. And the graffiti screamed their unique personalities. The tree- Kasshoku No Kitsune even said so himself, he wanted to protect the forest. The Guards- no doubt a mental image after Juro's family had abandoned. And Oshiro Hitomi- her family loved oxen, often time taking up their physique and toss techniques. The wings were just a sign of her enjoyment of cute things.

"You will fight another group, one of four; I believe you are _well_ acquainted with each of them. Tayuya, Sakon and Ukon, Jirobo, and Kidomaru, will be your opponents." Orchchimaru chuckled- he would test these children at every turn, he wanted to experiment, is it experience that matters? Or class room teaching?

Tayuya was a bit nervous her first fight, and against her ally Kasshoku, she was just lucky that this was a controlled area so no matter how much she beat him up. He would be just fine.

Kasshoku, Hitomi, and Juro's respective hearts all beat fast. But they took a look at each other, Hitomi to Juro, Juro to Kasshoku, and Kasshoku to Hitomi. The three of them had an idea.

'Juro, Genjutsu!" ordered Hitomi,

"Kasshoku get your bow ready!" Demanded Juro,

"Hitomi, can you throw me?" asked Kasshoku.

Orochimaru gave the signal, the sound team minus Kidomaru charged forward the spider boy aimed carefully, with arrows minus the head of course, his target was Kasshoku. His chances of missing null. He let out the arrow; however the target was staring right at the projectile, he didn't dodge, in fact, he did not move at all; he was just like a statue. 'Genjutsu!' he quickly hit his own gut to break the illusion; however, he was awakened from the illusion to see his teammates pinned down and wrapped up, by what looked like an arrow that had a line of moss connected to it. But what was more amazing was how it was done, one arrow, one shot, each through the back of their sound uniforms.

Hitomi walked up to Kidomaru, and with one hand grabbed his shirt and lifted him up. Juro himself snatched his bow from him, while Kasshoku finished the tie around his other opponents, while ignoring the pain that came from hitting solid stone after Hitomi's toss.

Orochimaru was interested; he would have to speed up the trio's "Escape" he sent out scouts immediately after the graffiti was spotted. They found campfires with the bones of small animals, paired with the feint smell of rabbit. He tracked back these camps to the border line of Konoha's forest-his guess- the Kasshoku boy is an escapee from the Konoha ninja school. For what reason he did not know, and frankly he did not care; however, what he did care about was their individual skill, together they were a well communicated task force, though separately-they could be as weak as the children they tied up.

Their fellow students, all of different ages, were awed, they hardly saw it even though Juro's Genjutsu did not reach them, and the speed of the match was crazy. Four enemies, not including Ukon, taken down with efficient speed; however no cheering came from the crowd, the crowd was more scared then anything, how were these new chumps so good? Where are they from? How did she throw him like that? How did that kid with the eye cast an illusion on all four enemies? What was with that accuracy?

The trio spent the rest of the day watching the rest of the duels, surprisingly enough-their match was by no means the highlight this Kimimaro. The guy had bones growing out of his body he took down what seemed to be like six other children all at least three years more experienced then him. To top it off, he did it flawlessly, not a single mark on his body- and his age- no older then 13.

Orochimaru went down to the children's room, he then stapled a note on the door, it was a note of eviction, he made up a reason, it did not matter what it was they would take it and run, he just wanted those children to learn in a different environment- a more _natural_ approach to learning. They would grow through their experiences, through adventures, even if they became failures, he could still get the book rights. Everyone likes a good adventure story.

"You are here forth banished from the academy, due to improper hygienic qualities of Kasshoku no Kitsune, please pack your things and leave." Hitomi brimmed with happiness when she finished reading the note, so much so she hugged Kasshoku, which she quickly regretted, and understood the call from banishment.

"Well-I guess my messiness saved the day huh? No risky plans, no kidnapping ourselves and we got away with the graffiti." Juro smiled at Kasshoku's summary, Hitomi brimmed with happiness. And Kasshoku's smile was big enough to show through his mask.

"You know, I think this is just the beginning, we are going to get into all kinds of shenanigans from now on. But hers the sad part, I do not have much to feel sorry for, after all I made was an enemy, but what about you guys, both of you made friends-acquaintances at the very least."

"I made a gift for Tayuya, it's a crown of leaves, my Kaa-san said that its what the daughters of the elders wear. And their beauty is supposed to be magnificent, so my plan is to leave her this crown, along with a note, noting her beauty."

"Man, that's gay." Insulted Juro, which hastily resulted with him getting a mattress to the head from none other then Hitomi.

"For one-do not use sexuality as a means of insulation _Juro_, and Kasshoku, I am jealous that Tayuya is getting that crown." Hitomi smiled, Kasshoku was strange in many ways but if there is one thing he's good at, it's making people happy.

Orochimaru listened to the recording, he then called Kabuto to unlock Tayuya's door, and lead Kasshoku to her dorm. The crown is perfect; it would create a certain connection between Kasshoku and his Village. And if his luck was good, he would become the undisputed leader of the group.

Kasshoku was lucky, this guy was leading him to Tayuya's side of the tunnel, he just had to lie about who he was, and what he was doing, who knew he would take him to the furthest bathroom in the complex?

"Oh and by the way, your friend Tayuya's room is over their she's notorious for leaving the door unlocked, Be sure to go back to sleep Jirobo, after all you need to be well rested for that eating contest tomorrow." Kabuto sighed; apparently he was not the one who came up with graffiti scandal.

Kasshoku snuck over to Tayuya's bed, she was fast asleep, he placed the crown and jogged right out. Though Kasshoku failed to recognize the black member of the forest, lightly walking over to the crown and with a simple tap of her finger-changed the brown and bright green crown into a black, and dark green crown- befitting her plan as she wished.

The trio left the village free men and women, and without having to be kidnapped. With the wind on their back, and a foreseeable bright future, the children were all smiles. Though each one of them had no idea, over the next three years the trials that they would encounter would define their life story.


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

Brown Fox

Doctor Visit-Pure Profit

Kasshoku wasn't a teen who ignored situations; in fact, he was a teen who ignored very little. This morning the boy woke up around a dead fire-pit, after getting the morning meal ready, which was last nights dinner, he continued on his usual routine and began to wake up his partners.

The teen walked over to Juro, and proceeded to shake him awake, this usually worked for Juro, he was a light sleeper, but oddly enough he just kept on sleeping. Breaking from the routine Kasshoku tried another tactic-one he usually reserved for Hitomi when she didn't wake up after a jostle.

Kasshoku cleared his throat, preparing to yell as loudly as his thirteen year old lungs could. "Ju**ro" **Kasshoku immediately covered his mouth; the shriek he just let out was a higher pitch then any bird's song. Both Hitomi and Juro were shocked, and immediately got up, and prepared for a fight. The voice was nothing like they ever heard, and their hard life on the road had taught them to be weary of strangers.

However, their initial perception of danger was quickly dispersed when they saw Kasshoku holding his hand over his mouth, wearing a expression of confusion and fear. Hitomi was worried, was their something wrong with her friend? She had never seen Kasshoku this worried before. "You alright Kasshoku, you look lik-"

"No clic**hés!" **Both Juro and Hitomi took a mental note, if you wanted to retrieve Kasshoku out of shock, say something stupid. "**My **voi**ce** is weir**d; **it keeps on **becom**ing high **pitc**hed, at seem**ingl**y random inter**vals!"**

Juro, being one for lacking compassion at sensitive times, he saw it in a movie and thought it was cool, proceeded to make Kasshoku feel terrible. "Fr**ea**k" irony was a truth you can't dodge, even for Juro. "No**w I** am worri**ed** Hit**omi, wh**at's go**ing **on?"

"Apparently, you two are turning into giant freaks, but wait you-"she was cut off, the commotion of the morning allowed the stain on her paints to slip her mind. She now felt something warm down there, something akin to well, _blood_. She stood there frozen, completely frightened, she thought immediately to internal bleeding. Would she be alright?

"Jur**o, **how much **mon**ey we go**t? An**d what is the **close**st village?" Kasshoku spoke with worrying for his friend, he was no longer scared for himself, he was scared for Hitomi, she was bleeding, and they both had no idea what was wrong with her.

"Plen**ty, **and not close enough, **lets** get changed, and Hitomi, you **go**od enough to walk?"

Hitomi nodded quietly, a rush of fear came over her, she never was so unsure about her future as she was now, never had she heard of a women bleeding out of her, you know, her _private area_. She was sweating profusely; everything in her body seemed so foreign right now, it was like it was leading a rebellion against her, trying to behead her, the priestess of her own temple, hopefully the doctor would have an answer to this uprising, it was her only hope.

Kasshoku and Juro both kept a solemn look on their faces, though Kasshoku was thinking, analyzing all of his knowledge of women, in order to try to figure out what was going on with Hitomi. He knew off the bat the growing chest was normal-after all they had ran into plenty of older women, each having a bust of normal size, the weight she was putting on was normal, he and Juro will also getting a bit chubby, maybe he should start to look at their diet, and her widening hips were also normal, well he assumed, his only comparison was bikini models, and his Kaa-san quickly shot down comparing them to real women.

When the trio reached the village, the mood hadn't changed since that morning. Juro quickly ran to the nearest police officer, asking where the doctor was, and with no short amount of panic in his voice, being a bit taken aback by the boy's suddenness, he just pointed the way to the clinic.

The trio walked into the doctors office, lucky for Hitomi, no one else was there. Kasshoku sat down with Hitomi while Juro went up to the desk. The one-eyed boy stood in front of the desk for a few minutes repeatedly looking at the clock and seat, over and over again. Like any worried friend he was getting impatient, he rang the attendant bell.

She heard the attendant's bell, which was bad, mostly because the doctor was dead, and the attendant was passed out on the floor, due to her favorite white rag. She couldn't just walk out; anyone would immediately become suspicious of her.

Contrary to what it may seem, she wasn't here to kill the Doctor, she intended for him to have the same peaceful sleep on the ground as her assistant, she just needed the office for a few hours. Though against her better health she fought back, and quickly got the worst paper cut of her finished life.

Konan stashed the bodies, making sure to put the unconscious women in a different closet; she had woken up by a dead body before. Not pleasant. She took the doctors clothes; they choose this office specifically for the doctor's sex. The man she was going to capture was not only sick, but entirely blindsided by attractive women.

Juro rang the bell again, and again, and again, and was about to do it once more, when the doctor swiftly stole the bell away. Konan put on her best doctor impersonation, cold, distant, and indifferent, "Do you have an appointment?"

"No, bu-"

"Then leave, no impromptu appointments" that should get him out of here, she needed more time to prepare for the capture.

"But my friend" he pointed towards Hitomi, who was pale with fear and worry. "May be sick, and we require a doctors opinion" Konan thought about what she could do. Turn out a sick girl? That would be suicide for her operation, the villagers would come in, seeing the girl's condition and demand that she examine her-and she was not the doctor they would expect to see-with little to no choice, she brought them into the back room. Maybe it was something simple like a cold, or flu.

They all walked into the doctors office, Konan motioned for Hitomi to sit on the paper covered bench. Though right after Hitomi jumped on the bench, she noticed a trace of blood down in her vaginal area.

"Boys, please leave the room" spoke Konan with a stern voice, she knew what was going on, the girl hit Puberty, and her friends, whom had no idea what was happening, brought her to the doctors. It was probably for the best, since from the looks of it they had no parental supervision. She knew about having a life on the road, all the uncertainties you face, you get paranoid fast. It was the only way you live, the boys left, and Konan began to calmly explain everything.

"So, I do not have internal bleeding?"

"Nothing of the sort Hitomi, you're just maturing naturally, turning from a child into a young adult."

Hitomi released a large sigh of relief, she was just fine, and her body wasn't trying to kill the priestess, just remodeling the temple. "What about my friends, their voices kept jumping up in pitch, as Kasshoku put it, 'In seemingly random intervals'"

"The same thing that's happening to you, except instead of turning into beautiful young women, their turning into dirty young men," Hitomi laughed at the joke, Konan's doctor said the same thing to her, when Jiraiya took her for a physical, it stuck with her since then, and maybe it will stick with Hitomi here as well. The biggest thing to do now is to comfort her, she spent most of her time with boys, who at this age were not 'in tune' with their sensitive sides. "So Hitomi, how long have you been with your friends?"

"About three years, I met Kasshoku first, and Juro a matter of days after."

"Are they nice to you?"

"Heh, Juro is an ass most of the time, but that's just who he is, Kasshoku is never mean, pretty sure it's impossible for him to get angry."

"Sounds like an interesting group," seemed like she traveled with a nice balance, one who was mean enough to see reality, and other nice enough to make friends. They would be fine on their own.

"You have no idea, the first two weeks we knew each other, and we got captured by the sound, and two days later, escaped!"

Konan was shocked beyond belief, no signs of lying, they escaped from the sound village, that was something that made these children special, and information gathering needed. "What else have you done, Hitomi?"

"Well, lots of Odd jobs, in a matter of two weeks we went from couriers to meat packers, we also did some escort missions, but nothing bigger then a caravan, Oh and bandits, only a few at a time though."

World experience, C-level missions done, bandits fought, these kids were you're every day genin team; only difference was the lack of a jonin instructor. She couldn't do that for them though, but like every good ninja, she could find a way to use them, she already had the trust of one of them, just needed the other two. "What about your 'escape' from Sound?"

"Well, the funny thing is-we had this elaborate plan where we made up a fake gang, 'The Misinterpreted' the name and idea was Juro's. I cam up with a way to alleviate the public eye from us, through spreading out our friendship circle, and remaining good children, no one would expect us. Finally Kasshoku came up with this idea that we pretend to Kidnap ourselves, and demand ransom, when they gave the ransom, _if_, they gave the ransom we would take it, and leave a 'tag' saying that we were dead."

That, was an interesting plan, something that a conventional ninja wouldn't think of doing. "Since you obviously didn't go through with this plan, what happened for you to get out?"

"Orochimaru kicked us out because of Kasshoku's bad hygiene." They both laughed, Konan's laugh was fake, she knew the real reason, Orochimaru was interested in these children, for what she did not know, she took at look at her shoulder-of course in a doctoral manner, making an extra effort to check both. If Orochimaru did not give them a seal, what could he want with these three?

She didn't know the answer-the unanswered question wouldn't stop her from using the teenagers though.

Hitomi walked out with a skip, she was happy, oh so glad, no death in her future, just womanhood. She saw the boys, who quickly saw her, seeing her color return to her, and a bag in her hand filled with womanly products, they asked what had been wrong, and Hitomi proceeded to reiterate everything she had learned from the Doctor.

With their friend cured they walked out happily-passively noticing the tall, blonde haired man, who coughed as he passed, if Hitomi knew anything that doctor would cure him, she was amazing, truly a female role model to admire.

Konan handed over the demon container to Zetsu, along with a note, Konan walked away, wordless as usual. When she was out of range the man read the note.

_Genin Team Found,_

_Chance of making it to the Finals 76%_

Konan found the three teens, resting at the camp each occupied in his or her own world, Juro was recalculating the Budget, new expenses for the new young woman, Hitomi was drawing, a hobby she picked up for her 'Entertainment' budget. Kasshoku was spinning his game of the day over a fire adding herbs collected from the surrounding area.

She approached, getting a smile from Hitomi, a confused look from Juro, and a small smile from Kasshoku.

Konan began to speak, "You three have heard of the Chunnin Exams, correct?"

A simultaneous nod came from each member of the team, they attended one a year ago, it was something Juro wanted to do.

"Then you know that there is another exam coming up in two months time,"

They nodded in unison yet again, wondering where the doctor was going with this.

"I am no Doctor-and no, that doesn't mean the information I gave you any less true. But my organization needs a representative, and you need a representative for you to get into the Chunnin Exams."

The three of them narrowed their eyes in unison, looking dead into the woman's eyes. "What makes you think we _**wa**__nt_ to get into the Chunnin **Exa**ms?" insinuated Juro, Konan knew he was speaking for the team when he said that.

"You hate living on Odd-jobs, if you were a Chunnin, an Independent Chunnin at that, you wouldn't have to be a meat packer." Juro knew where she got that from, though he couldn't blame her that was an interesting story to tell.

"She's got me, how b**out**' you Hitomi?"

"Well, it would be a way to get more money; we could buy newer clothes since I think we have out worn these ones." The entire team was still wearing their sound uniforms, each with a defining characteristic to it. Hitomi had an orange cloth around her waist, Juro pilfered a scarf before they left the sound village, and Kasshoku still had his cloak.

Kasshoku needed an answer before he went along with this, "As your **'Repre**sentative' what would you have us do?"

"Well, Kasshoku" she guessed that he was Kasshoku, the brown cloak gave it away, "You just have to win"

Though 'Just Win' was simple enough; however, he _knew _she had ulterior motives, but, did that really matter? "If you require nothing of us, except to win, I see nothing truly **nega**tive about it."

With Kasshoku's approval, the deal was sealed. "Since I see you three are all in agreement, all I have to ask of you is to put this cloth pattern somewhere visible."

Hitomi went behind a tree, and came back out with a new piece of cloth over her eye. A black cloth with a red cloud, which was placed right over her eye, her smile was as big as it had ever been; she liked the black and red.

Kasshoku just put it around his neck, making sure to tuck the knot beneath his cloak, didn't want anyone chocking him with it. Juro wrapped it around his arm, and with the knot tied on Juro's arm, the deal was done.

Behind a tree, out of vision of the four of them, the same presence that had occupied Tayuya's room for only a few seconds, made her second appearance, one could see her white teeth smiling, the plan she had set in motion so many years ago, was still running smoothly.


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

Brown Fox

For Power, For Kindness

Naruto liked being better then other people; in fact, he liked just being himself, since he was the best. The boy walked with a gait that could only be achieved by gaining power overnight. His walk didn't lie, he did get power overnight, Kyu-chan was nice enough to give it to him, she was really nice, and beautiful, and smart. She told him, that he deserved the power, he after all, single handedly contains _all _of the Kyuubi; other people couldn't even say they held _half. _

The boy gathered attention as he walked down the street, showing off his new three brand new tails, he made the change last night, Naruto needed to prepare for the Chunnin exams, and what better way then to gain the power of a demon?

Hinata's conquest of Naruto was a continuing triumph, every move she made, was a move made in the right direction. Everything from her botched attempt at pottery, to her sudden strength bursts-Naruto believed that his "Inspiration" made her stronger. Though did she care about him thinking so little of her, that she needed his presence in order to become better? No, that's a character flaw, everyone has them, and Naruto's was just his Hubris. If she would have to say what her flaw was, she would have to say that she was a pessimist. Hardly a day goes by that she did not once think about what could go wrong with her "Invasion of Naruto".

She could appear to strong, scare away the _sensitive_ Naruto from his self-claimed title of the strongest Genin. The only reason he wasn't recognized for his skill was because of the Kyuubi. She looked at the happy, but slightly disturbed, townsfolk. She spat out the saliva that was gathering in her mouth, and with no small amount of acid in her voice, called them fools. She looked at her objective, expecting to see the usual boy, wearing the same green pants, with an orange thermal.

The clothes were the same, but the tails were new, instantly Hinata knew what this meant, the villagers would _have_ to acknowledge his strength. He has the strength of a demon now, not even the Kages could stop him now. She ran out of the shadows, aiming to give the boy a hug, the villagers have been surrounded by power; they would either surrender, or face termination.

Naruto heard Hinata's heavy footsteps coming, even though he was facing the away from the girl, he knew it was Hinata by her shoes hitting the pavement, she ran with a lead foot, very uncharacteristic of the Hyuga but it made her different, just like him. Just like him, it made her an outcast, the odd Hyuga, and the Demon brat. He heard whispers, he didn't understand what they were saying, but he figured its something about his transformation.

Hinata and Naruto walked down the street, scowling at the confused townspeople. Though as the two friends walked down the street, a woman in hiding cursed her luck, the plan she crafted so many years ago had just been foiled, in the matter of a single moment. Did that kid _really _need to accept the Kyuubi's power, well, lucky for her, she planned for this happening. She pulled out a notebook, torn and worn from obvious overuse. She flipped through the book, in till she spotted the page she was looking for, in bold letters, the title read. 'How to deal with Kasshoku's half brother accepting the demon's power.' And in letters just as bold, it read 'just tell Kasshoku not to'.

In all of her planning, _that_ is what she came up with; 'just tell him', well it made the most sense. Kasshoku, even though he did not even know her, would still trust her. Especially since he didn't know what she doing for him, and oh, she was doing a lot for him. Well, in doing things for him, she was really doing good for the forest.

The chunnin exams-if her plan was to succeeded- would be the catalyst for much bigger objectives, _much_ bigger objectives. She thought of all the steps she had to take in secret, in order for Kasshoku to participate in the chunnin exams, sending bandits his way to desensitize him to the thought of violence. Spreading rumors of grandeur to traders, so that Kasshoku could get mission experience, leading game in the direction of his happenstance friends-so that he would end up in their vicinity. The whole 'Evil organization recruits Kasshoku for the Chunnin exam' was a pleasant surprise. Her plan was so entangled that even she didn't quite understand it.

What she did understand was her next step, the chunnin exams are just three days away, and if her guess was correct, Kasshoku and his partners would be walking right through the gates of Konoha.

Kasshoku was sweating profusely; he shifted his eyes nervously from tree line to tree line. Nee-san could come out at any minute- and in any minute he would have to explain to the gate guards what the strange bark covered girl was, and why was she attacking him with roots. The brown teen told his partners everything about himself; he found it to be the right thing to do, being that they told him everything about themselves. Including the truth about him being a Demon Container, just like he expected though, they really didn't care too much about it, as long as it was sealed in him, they didn't mind.

Speaking of the illustrious demon, the last two years had them partaking in many different conversations. Some angered, some pleasant, some witty, some bland, but all were unexpected. He assumed that she was constantly attempting to convince him to let her out. Even with that in mind, he always tried to make her stay in the seal as pleasant as possible, always trying to start off a conversation with a pleasant note, she never appreciated it though.

Being out of the eyesight of the trees, Kasshoku allowed himself to relax. Oddly enough, he relaxed, and nothing happened, this temporary reprieve was truly a gift from nature. He took the time of bliss to look around he couldn't help but smile; the towns people seemed so overwhelmingly pleasant. Children played, couples cuddled, shop owners scuffled, stray puppies were patted, the town displayed the very picture of peace.

The trio made their way over to the Hokage tower, a Konoha ninja sent them that way, and he also noted that they were not expecting chunnin exam participants for another two days. But he was sure the Hokage could make arrangements for them, so far Kasshoku really enjoyed this 'village' though he was rather confused about that part, it was clearly much larger then a village, it was more along the lines of a small city.

The trio finally made their way to the Hokage's door as they raised their hands in unison to hit the door of the office. A teen came running in, appearing to them only as a blur of orange and green, and oddly enough some tails. The color blur stopped in front of the baffled Kage. Who was not only surprised by the child's new-found speed. But his new found tails. The third Kage had seen felt many tremors during his life, but this was an earthquake among them, though he knew this wasn't the time to question the tails. The third Hokage needed an excuse, and he found one, three of them to be exact, all of them standing at his door.

"Naruto, it's rude to take someone's place in line, those three were waiting patiently for their turn to address me, go back outside and wait for a few minutes."

"Oji-san! They don't matter! Besides I have a big announcement"

Juro was rather taken aback by that dismissal, and like any man should, he voiced his concerns through being passive aggressive. "Oh, sorry, I forgot, I'm just a chump, don't mind me, I'll be crying in the corner."

"Naruto, please leave the room so these three can register for the Chunnin exams" after taking a second look at the trio, he figured there would be no other reason for them to be at his office.

Naruto changed his appearance to one trained to examine his opponent in an instant, he proceeded to size them up, and then size them down. "You three shouldn't bother-just from looking at you, I can tell you have no chance against _anyone_ here in Konoha."

The three of them stared at the boy, who seemed to be confident in his words. They couldn't afford to make light of his words, and all three of them knew it at once. They would have to use every advantage they had, to take down the competition.

"Come on in you three, I'm assuming that you are here to register for the chunnin exams, am I correct?"

"Yes Hokage-sama, we also are in need of lodging, we were informed that it would be provided to us." Answered Hitomi, she always took the lead when talking to high ranking officials; she had the most experience with the upper class.

"It is, but you three seem to be too early, and without a Jonin instructor."

"Sorry Hokage-sama," Hitomi said this as she bowed in front of the Kage, "We are not from an official village, we are merely a skilled group of travelers, whom were sent here as representatives for a group of Ninja, whose name is Akatsuki, which we know nothing about"

"That doesn't seem too smart, representing something you know nothing about, but we'll set you up just the same, just go to the hotel down the street, this voucher will get you into the correct room." The Hokage was no fool, that wasn't any normal voucher; he was sending them to a surveillance hotel, though the children could possibly have nothing to do with the trio, he would take no chances.

The three of them arrived at the hotel they would be spending the next few months at, it was a plain room, nothing but a window and four beds placed throughout the room. Hitomi took the blankets of the extra bed, Juro the pillows, and Kasshoku the mattress. They then rearranged the room in their usual triangular fashion, similar to how they sat around the campfire.

Kasshoku asked the question on everyone's mind, "What is our plan?"

"Well, the doctor lady said 'Win' so we should start from their." Stated Juro, he enjoyed the planning sessions, it was one of the few times they got serious.

"Shouldn't we train?" suggested Hitomi, training was one thing the trio never did; they were always too busy with odd-jobs and hunting for food.

"By doing what, we don't have a teacher, nor do we have any basis to learn anything."

"Well, we can train our basic skills, Kasshoku's archery, endurance with your Genjutsu, and my strength."

"But how?"

"Well, my strength is obvious, lift heavy things, and Kasshoku can just shoot small targets day in and day out, though I am not quite sure about your Genjutsu."

Juro thought for a few seconds, he wasn't quite sure about how to strengthen himself, but he knew how to understand an opponent's weakness. "You know what we should do? We should talk with the other Genin, in a submissive way, see if we can bait out any of their strengths, if they are all as free speaking as that one Naruto kid, shouldn't be too hard."

Kasshoku realized it right then, Naruto, Uzumaki Naruto, the friend he spent time with in his earlier years. The kid who held the other half of the Kyuubi, so he accepted the power of the fox, Kasshoku saddened at the thought, he had little knowledge of what the demonic power would do to a normal human,. He had even less knowledge of how much you could trust a demon. His relationship with the demon inside of his stomach was varied; the two of them changed from witty friends to vile enemies in the flip of a switch. Maybe Naruto's half of the charge was more trustworthy? He had no way to tell, he could only hope he had made the wise decision.

Hitomi, noticing Kasshoku drifting off into thought, quickly brought the teen back to focus. "Kasshoku, you ready to go out? We gotta go make some ego-filled friends"

"Yea, were should we head first?"

"I think we should hit the local beef restaurant, meat is an essential part in muscle growth, and most Ninjas require a certain degree of buffness." If Hitomi knew one thing, it was how the body developed muscle.

"Nice use of colloquial language (1) Hitomi, but that sounds like a good start to our little excursion into this Ninja village"

Juro, Kasshoku, and Hitomi walked into the restaurant side by side, each teen looking in his or her own direction, each scouting out a group of people who appeared to be Genin. Hitomi saw three girls, each bearing scratch less forehead protectors, she left her compatriots to talk with them, Juro found three boys, each bearing the same perfect headbands. Kasshoku found Naruto, sitting with a boy who appeared to be one of his teammate, it appeared that their was no conversation between the two, but a intense staring match instead.

Hitomi reached her target first, she imagined herself walking up to the group, giving a pleasant greeting, and then have a pleasant discussion were they casually discuss their strengths.

What she got was much less pleasant, and slightly scarring, a blonde girl, with a set of blue eyes, used those cold eyes to see the thing she could say to damage her self-esteem the most. "What do you need Cyclops Girl? Did you lose your eye somewhere?" A girl with pink hair laughed without guilt, while another, with lavender eyes, had some shame and hid her smile.

Hitomi was humiliated, only the four of them could hear the comment in the loud room, but to her, the whole room was laughing, poking fun at her sad past. Honestly, if it was anyone else, she would just shake it off, but something about this girl just threw her off, was it the people laughing, or is it that she felt threatened?

"Why are you still standing there? Take your freaky self somewhere else; you're making me lose my appetite."

Juro stopped mid-stride, he heard what the girl said, and what he heard was not pleasant. But he already knew what to do, he had to stick up for his friend, he was fairly certain he had no choice about the matter. He quickly made his way over to the booth the girls were sitting at, and remembering the last comment, had every line planned out. "You should be thanking her then, you got a serious pair of love-handles there sister, you could do with less food."

The laughter ceased at the booth, the blonde's expression switched from a carefree 'Top of the World' look, to one of shock. "Who are you, this Cyclopes other eye? You two _do_ make quite a _pair_" she was happy with her pun; she was convinced that her words drove the final spear into the eyes of these Cyclopes.

Juro saw this victory face, and smiled, after this she wouldn't mess with Hitomi, or Himself, or even Kasshoku. He began this ego-shattering sentence with a compliment, "I wish, I mean look at her, she's beautiful, smart, strong, and more importantly, the complete opposite of you." The one eyed boy was happy that Kasshoku was on the other side of the room, the dialogue he was exchanging was ripped right out of a teen flick. Fearing Kasshoku's mighty war cry of "No Clichés" Juro spun around and a surprised Hitomi soon followed suit.

Ino was not done with that jackass, oh she wasn't even close, he seemed like a Genin, and appeared to be the same age as her, she would get him back, with the rage of a woman scorned.

Kasshoku was blissfully unaware of the played out scene taking place behind him, after all, he had to get re-acquainted with a childhood friend. Kasshoku stepped up right next to the booth, took a deep breath, and began his re-introduction. "Hey Naruto" there was no response from him; he just kept staring at the teen sitting across from him, who was returning the favor by staring him down as well. "Naruto" still no response, Kasshoku was about to walk away, when Naruto's supposed teammate stopped him.

"Uchiha Sauske" said the dark haired boy with a heft of indifference, the boy appeared to have gone through quite a lot, and looked like he was still going through something.

"Kasshoku no Kitsune, mind if I sit here?" Kasshoku was hoping the simple request would catch a positive response.

The Uchiha was a bit surprised he was fairly certain the table he was sitting at was radiating Killing Intent, but maybe the kid was just oblivious. The teen nodded with indifference, Kasshoku sat on Naruto's side of the bench, to avoid any awkward space issues with the one who talks. "So, I just arrived here for the Chunnin Exams, and I have no idea about my way around here, I was wondering if there are any training areas that are open for the chunnin participants?"

Sauske thought about this teen's possible ulterior motive, he sized him up with all of his acquired skill; his conclusion was that the boy was more a harm to hygiene freaks then anyone else. "Not this early, but after the first two test you should be able to acquire access"

"Thanks- so anyway, are you going to participate in the exams?"

Naruto immediately joined the conversation, with little warning or tact. "_We_ are going to the chunnin exams; _you_ will fail by the first exam."

Kasshoku was surprised, he was looking right into his face-and he still didn't know who he was, so apparently those five years didn't mean much. "Okay, so I will take that as a yes, so you guys eat here often?"

Sauske was amused at Kasshoku's attempt at small talk; he clearly wasn't a trained ninja, probably just sent by a village for numbers, not skill. "No, we usually go to Naruto's favorite Ramen stand, but today he finally let us go to this beef restaurant."

"Still a great place, it has a nice friendly atmosphere about it, lots of laughter and love"

'Definitely not a trained Ninja' after coming to the realization Sauske broke his façade of indifference and smiled, he would have to get the village name of where this kid was from he would skate by knowing the weakest village. "Yea, it's great, what village are you from."

"My team isn't from a village-we were a group of travelers who were recruited to fight for a certain organization-so if it seems like we don't know much about the ninja lifestyle, it's because we don't." Said Kasshoku with a smile through his mask, if the cliché is true, then he would hope that it really would hurt him.

His team came over for him, having failed their duties for information collecting. "Kasshoku lets head back to the hotel." Hitomi was more then ready to head home, she was still a bit humiliated by the insults barrage she received.

"Well, nice meeting you Sauske, see you later Naruto" with that the trio left.

But with them leaving, Sauske's a question he didn't much care for, the three of them were sponsored, so his initial instincts were off, no company would gather some weak chumps off the streets. They had to be good, it only made sense.

Sauske shook the thought off, it was a question for the day of the exam, right now, he had to stare down his rival, for he couldn't lose to him for anything.

The trio immediately went to sleep as they reached their room, for in three days, their whole lives would change.

Colloquial language- using a Noun or an Adjective, and changing it into a verb, like "Naruto just got chopsticked"

The Old Yankee


End file.
